Karl Hubert Rudolf Schiske (12 February 1916 – 16 June 1969) was an Austrian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

professor.

Life

Schiske was born in

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia ...

in what is now western Hungary which was then still part of the

Danube Monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

in 1916. In 1919 the family first moved to

Orth an der Donau Orth an der Donau is a town in the district of Gänserndorf (district), Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Geography It is located on the bank of the Danube River, about 15 miles east of Vienna and 17 miles west of Bratislava. H ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

and in 1923 to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He attended the grammar school in the Albertgasse, where he met his lifelong friend and later painter Carl Unger. From 1932 he received composition lessons from Ernst Kanitz, a pupil of

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...

, and in 1939 he passed the final examination in composition at the Vienna University of Music as an external student. In addition, he studied musicology, art history, philosophy and physics at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and received his doctorate in 1942 on the use of dissonance in Bruckner's symphonies. He received his training as a pianist with Roderich Bass and Julius Varga at the

Neues Wiener Konservatorium The Neues Wiener Konservatorium (New Vienna Conservatory) was a music school established in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code ...

and with Hans Weber at the Vienna Academy of Music. While still a student, the city orchestra of the

Wiener Symphoniker The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Thea ...

and the Steinbauer Quartet performed his early works in the

Wiener Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Great ...

and the

Wiener Konzerthaus The Konzerthaus is a concert hall located in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and ...

from 1939 onwards. In 1940 he was drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, during which time he was also able to compose. Under the impression of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, his main work, the oratorio ''Vom Tode'', was written, dedicated to his brother Hubert, who died near Riga in 1944. It was first performed in 1948 under Karl Böhm in the Vienna Konzerthaus. After the end of the war he lived as a freelance composer in Vienna with longer stays in Upper Austria, Styria, Salzburg and Orth on the Danube. Schiske's patron and sponsor at that time was Rita Schuller of Götzburg from Großsölk/Styria, to whom Schiske dedicated a large number of compositions. After the war, his most fruitful creative phase began, during which time he wrote his Symphonies No. 2 to 4, the Chamber Concerto for Orchestra and a large number of chamber music works, until 1952, when he received a call from the Vienna Academy of Music to teach composition. In the same year he was awarded the professional title Professor and the

Austrian State Prize The Austrian State Prize is an award given annually or biennially in various artistic fields for excellence by younger and middle-aged artists. The State Prize is currently (2012) worth €8,000. The categories are: : Fine arts (first award in 19 ...

(for the oratorio ''Vom Tode'') by the Federal President of Austria. Internationally, he appeared in 1957 as co-founder of a studio for electronic music and held guest professorships at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

in 1966 and 1967. In 1962 he was finally appointed extraordinary university professor in Vienna. He was a member of the board of directors of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

Austria. Among his students were

Erich Urbanner Erich Urbanner (born 26 March 1936) is an Austrian composer and teacher. Biography Born in Innsbruck, Urbanner studied from 1955 to 1961 at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, in the composition classes of Karl Schiske and Hanns ...

Iván Erőd Iván Erőd ( hu, Erőd Iván ; 2 January 1936 – 24 June 2019; sometimes spelled ''Eröd'') was a Hungarian-Austrian composer and pianist. Educated in Budapest, he emigrated to Austria in 1956, where he studied at the Vienna Music Academy. He ...

Gösta Neuwirth Gösta Neuwirth (; born 6 January 1937) is an Austrian musicologist, composer and academic teacher. He studied in Vienna and Berlin, where he wrote a dissertation on harmony in Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang''. He has taught at universities ...

Kurt Schwertsik Kurt Schwertsik (born 25 June 1935) is an Austrian contemporary composer. He is known for creating the "Third Viennese School" and spreading contemporary classical music. Life Schwertsik was born in Vienna. A pupil of Joseph Marx and Karl Schisk ...

Otto M. Zykan Otto Matthäus Zykan (29 April 1935, Vienna – 25 May 2006, Sachsendorf, Burgschleinitz-Kühnring) was an Austrian composer and pianist. He studied at the Vienna Music Academy, where his teachers included Karl Schiske (composition), Bruno S ...

, Charles Boone, Norma Wendelburg, and Luca Lombardi. Schiske was married to Berta Baumhackl since 1954 and had four children. He died on 16 June 1969 at the age of 53 from a brain haemorrhage and was buried at the local cemetery in

Work

* ''Konzert für Klavier und Orchester'', Op. 11 * ''Sonate für Violine und Klavier'', Op. 18 (1943/48) * ''Vom Tode'', Oratorium, Op. 25 * ''Psalm 99'', Op. 30

Awards

* 1950: * 1952: Förderungspreis des Österreichischen Staatspreises für Musik * 1960:

Theodor Körner Prize The Theodor Körner Prize ( German: ''Theodor-Körner-Preis'') is a set of annual Austrian awards bestowed by the Theodor Körner Fund in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The prize is awarded at the University of Vienna. The pri ...

* 1960:

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1967:

Grand Austrian State Prize The Grand Austrian State Prize () is a decoration given annually by Austria to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria. It was originally created in 1950 by then education mi ...

ÖMZ-Artikel
(PDF; 877-kB) Würdigung anlässlich der Verleihung des Österreichischen Staatspreises * 1968:

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

(1952) * 1970: Landeskulturpreis des Landes Niederösterreich postum

External links

* *
Lebenslauf Karl Schiske
auf mica.at, inklusive umfangreichem Werkverzeichnis
Konzertaufzeichnung von Schiskes Rhapsodie für Klavier Op. 20
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiske, Karl 20th-century classical composers Academic staff of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna Austrian composers Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Theodor Körner Prize recipients 1916 births 1969 deaths People from Győr German Army personnel of World War II

Life

Work

Awards

Further reading

External links

References