Karl Weigl (1881–1949) 1927 © Georg Fayer (1892–1950)

Karl Ignaz Weigl (6 February 1881 – 11 August 1949) was a Jewish Austrian composer and pianist, who later became a naturalized American citizen in 1943.Weigl, Karl. Grove Music Online
/ref>

Biography

Weigl was born in

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

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, the son of a bank official who was also a keen amateur musician.

Alexander Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton S ...

took him as a private pupil in 1896. Weigl went to school at the Franz-Joseph-Gymnasium and graduated from there in 1899. After that, he continued his studies at the

Vienna Music Academy The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

, where he became a composition pupil of

Robert Fuchs Robert Fuchs (15 February 1847 – 19 February 1927) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in hi ...

, and also enrolled 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 ...

, studying musicology under

Guido Adler Guido Adler (1 November 1855, Ivančice (Eibenschütz), Moravia – 15 February 1941, Vienna) was a Bohemian-Austrian musicologist and writer. Biography Early life and education Adler was born at Eibenschütz in Moravia in 1855. He moved ...

, with

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...

as his classmate. At the

Vienna Hofoper The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

between 1904 and 1906 he served as a rehearsal conductor for

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

. In 1930 he was appointed professor of theory and composition at the

, where he succeeded Hans Gal and taught composer Mimi Wagensonner. When the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

occupied Austria in 1938, Weigl's music could no longer be performed. He emigrated to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, together with his second wife, the composer and

music therapist Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music th ...

Vally Weigl Vally Weigl (11 September 1894 – 25 December 1982) was an Austrian-American composer and music therapist. Biography Valerie Weigl (née Pick) was born in Vienna, Austria. She was the first daughter of a Jewish couple, lawyer Josef Pick (1849 ...

(née Pick), and their son. There, he obtained a number of increasingly important teaching posts: at the

Hartt School of Music The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

, at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

, at the

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded ...

and, from 1948 on, at the

Philadelphia Musical Academy Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Weigl often appeared as a soloist and also played four-handed with his wife. He died in New York after a prolonged battle with

bone marrow cancer Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are all ...

. Weigl's music, which was admired by Mahler, Schoenberg and

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually re ...

, shows the influence of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, with an emphasis on

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

. His works include six symphonies, several concertos,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

pieces including eight string quartets, many songs (lieder in the tradition of

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

and Mahler) and solo piano works. His only opera, '' Der Rattenfänger von Hameln'', premiered in Vienna in 1932.

Works (selection)

Symphonies

* Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 5 (1908) * Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 19 (1922) * Symphony No. 3 (1931) * Symphony No. 4 in F minor (1936) * Symphony No. 5, "Apocalyptic Symphony" (1945) * Symphony No. 6 in A minor (1947)

Orchestral works

* ''Der 71. Psalm'' for female choir and orchestra (1901) * ''Symphonisches Vorspiel zu einer Tragödie'' (1933) * ''Music for the Young'' (Boy Scouts Overture) für kleines Orchester (1939) * ''Drei Gesänge für hohe Frauenstimme und Orchester'' (1916) * ''Phantastisches Intermezzo'', 1922 (4th movement from the 2nd Symphony, to be performed as a separate work) * Piano Concerto No. 1 for the left hand in E flat, 1924 * Violin Concerto in D major (1928) * Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 (1931) * Cello Concerto (1934) * Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra (1940)

Opera

* ''Der Rattenfänger von Hameln'', Op. 24, Märchenspiel in vier Bildern (1932)

Choral works

* ''Drei Gedichte von Lenau'', für achtstimmigen gemischten Chor a cappella, Op. 6 (1909)

Chamber music

* String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 20 (1905/1906) * String Quartet No. 2 in E major, with

Viola d'amore The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin. Structure and sound The viol ...

(1906) * String Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 4 (1909)
String Quartet No. 4 in d minor (1924) Op. Post.
* String Quartet No. 5 in G major, Op. 31 (1933) * Fünf Lieder für eine hohe Singstimme und Klavier, Op. 23 (1911) * Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 16 (1923) * String Quartet No. 6 in C (1939) * String Quartet No. 7 in F minor (1941-2)Karlweigl.org
(Quartet No.7) * String Quartet No. 8 in D major (1949) * Two Pieces for cello and piano, Op. 33 * Minuet for cello and piano * Piano Trio (1939)

Notable students

Rosy Wertheim Rosy Wertheim (19 February 1888 – 27 May 1949) was a Dutch pianist, music educator and composer. Biography Rosalie Marie Wertheim was born in Amsterdam to parents John and Adriana Rosa Gustaaf Wertheim Enthoven. Her father was a banker and Rosa ...

Ernst Bacon Ernst Lecher Bacon (May 26, 1898 – March 16, 1990) was an United States of America, American composer, pianist, and Conductor (music), conductor. A prolific author, Bacon composed over 250 songs over his career. He was awarded three Guggenheim ...

References

External links

*
The Karl Weigl Foundation
*

*
The Karl Weigl Papers at Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weigl, Karl 1881 births 1949 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century male musicians Austrian classical composers Austrian male classical composers Austrian opera composers Boston Conservatory at Berklee faculty Brooklyn College faculty Jewish classical composers Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss Male opera composers Musicians from Vienna Naturalized citizens of the United States University of Vienna alumni University of Hartford Hartt School faculty