# Emil von Reznicek



## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

The Austrian composer Emil von Reznicek lived into his 80s and kept up with the times. His career was sidelined only by World War II, and his oeuvre reflects styles ranging from Wagnerian late Romanticism to neoclassicism and even jazz-influenced works. Largely forgotten except for the opera Donna Diana (1894), Reznicek's music has seen some revivals in the 21st century.

Emil Nikolaus Joseph, Freiherr von Reznicek was born May 4, 1860, in Vienna. He was of noble Czech and Romanian background. His grandfather was a military trumpeter and an associate of Johann Strauss I and Joseph Lanner. Reznicek studied music in Graz and later in Leipzig with Carl Reinecke. He served an apprenticeship as a conductor at various German theaters and then moved to Prague in 1887, working as a military band conductor and writing the first of his 14 operas; the fourth one, Donna Diana, was his most popular work. Reznicek moved to the Berlin suburb of Charlottenburg in 1902, spending the rest of his life there. He wrote five symphonies; tone poems including a trilogy: Schlemihl (1912), Der Sieger (1913), and the lost Frieden (Eine Vision) of 1914; incidental music (including a set for Strindberg's A Dream Play) and other stage works; chamber music including six string quartets; piano music; songs including some with leftist sympathies; choral music; and various other works. Much of Reznicek's early music was influenced by Wagner, but in later life he experimented with contemporary sounds from bitonality to jazz. His Karneval-Suite im alten Stil (1932) was a neo-Baroque work. Reznicek's old age was unhappy because his wife, Berta, was Jewish and was active in Germany's anti-Nazi resistance. Performances of Reznicek's music were discouraged, and some of his unpublished manuscripts were confiscated by the government and lost. To save himself, he associated himself with the circle surrounding Richard Strauss; this in turn hurt his repuation after the war, when he was accused of Nazi sympathies. Reznicek died in Berlin on August 2, 1945.

A CATALOGUE OF THE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

1877: "Hexenszene aus Macbeth" for orchestra
1883: Symphonic Suite in E minor for orchestra
1892: "Probst-Marsch" for military band
1894: Requiem for five voices, chorus and orchestra
1895: Comedy Overture: 9 minutes + (cpo cd)
Mass in F major for chorus and orchestra (lost)
1895-96:Symphonic Suite in D major for orchestra
1900: Overture "Wie Till Eulenspiegel lebte"
1902: Symphony No.1 "Tragic" in D minor: 55 minutes + (cpo cd)
1903/30:Fruhlings-Ouverture "Im deutschen Wald" (renamed "Golpirol Overture" or "Concert Overture")
1903: Nachtstuck in F major for Violin or Cello and Orchestra: 10 minutes
"Ruhm und Ewigkeit" for mezzo-soprano or tenor and orchestra
1904: Symphony No.2 "Ironic" in B flat: 25 minutes + (cpo cd)
"Deutsche Volkslieder aus 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn'" for voice and orchestra
1905/20:Serenade for Strings in G major + (Koch Schwann cd)
1906: Introduction and Valse Capriccio in D major for Violin and Orchestra (lost)
1907: Prelude and Chromatic Fugue in C sharp minor for orchestra
1911-12:"Schlemihl" ("A Symphonic Life Story") for tenor and orchestra: 44 minutes + (cpo cd)
1912: Prelude and Fugue in C minor for orchestra
Four Songs of Prayer and Repentence for contralto or bass and orchestra:11 minutes + (cpo cd)
1913: Symphonic Poem "Der Sieger" for contralto, chorus and orchestra: 48 minutes + (cpo cd)
"Walzerserenade" for orchestra
1914: "Frieden" for soprano, contralto, tenor, bass, chorus and orchestra (lost)
1915: Traumspiel-Suite for orchestra
"In Memoriam" for contralto, bass, chorus, organ, two trumpets, timpani, harp and strings: 90 minutes
1918: Konzertstuck for Violin and Orchestra in E major
Violin Concerto in E minor: 26 minutes + (Koch Schwann)
Symphony No.3 "Im alten Stil" in D major: 30 minutes + (Koch Schwann cd)
1919: Symphony No.4 in F minor: 39 minutes + (Koch Schwann cd)
1921: Theme and Variations on Chamisso's 'Tragische Geschichte" for bass and orchestra: 19 minutes + (Hanssler and cpo cds)
1924: Symphony No.5 "Tanz-Symphonie": 40 minutes + (cpo and Antes cds)
Valse pathetique for orchestra
"Ernster Walzfrie" for orchestra
1925: Overture-Fantasy "Raskolnikoff" No.1 (lost)
1926: Fest-Ouverture
1929: Overture-Fantasy "Rakolnikoff" No.2: 22 minutes + (cpo cd)
"Die steirerne Psalmsti" for chorus, organ and orchestra
Symphonic Variations on 'Kol Nidrey' for orchestra: 24 minutes + (cpo cd)
1930: "Vom ewigen Frieden" for soprano or tenor, chorus and orchestra
Overture-Fantasy "Raskolnikoff" No.3 (lost)
1931/43:Carnival Suite "Im alten Stil" for orchestra

and

Symphonietta in B major for orchestra
"Hindenburgmarsch" for orchestra or military band
Prelude "Mea culpa" for string orchestra


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

Recommended listening:


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