Borck, Edmund von
Borck, Edmund von
Borck, Edmund von, talented German composer; b. Breslau, Feb. 22, 1906; d. in battle near Nettuno, Italy, Feb. 16, 1944. He studied composition in Breslau (1920–26), and music history at the Univ. of Berlin. He held several positions as opera conductor in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main, then taught theory and composition in Berlin until drafted into the army in 1940. His progress as a composer was rapid; his early works indicated an innate and original creative ability, and his death in combat was a great loss to German music. His style of composition is neo-Classical, with strong contrapuntal structure; the rather austere and reticent mode of expression assumes in Borck’s music a colorful aspect through a variety of melodic and rhythmic devices, often in a rhapsodically romantic vein.
Works
Alto Saxophone Concerto (1932); Violin Sonata (1932); Orchesterstücke (1933); Landliche Kantate (1934); Concerto for Orch.(1936); Sextet for Flute and Strings (1936); Kleine Suite for Flute (1938); 2 Fantasiestücke for Orch. (1940); Piano Concerto (1941); Orphika, “an Apollonian transformation” for Orch. (1941); Napoleon, opera (1942).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire