Kornauth, Egon

Kornauth, Egon, Austrian pianist and composer; b. Olmütz, May 14, 1891; d. Vienna, Oct. 28, 1959. He began piano training as a child and made his debut at age 15, and took a course in theory with Fuchs at the Vienna Academy of Music, winning the Austrian State Prize for his Viola Sonata (1912). He then studied musicology with Adler at the Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1915, with the diss. Die thematische Arbeit in Josef Haydns Streichquartetten seit 1780). He toured widely with his Vienna Trio (1928–29); then received Vienna’s Music Prize (1930). He became a teacher of theory at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik (1940) and a prof, at the Salzburg Mozarteum (1945). His music generally followed along Romantic lines, demonstrating considerable contrapuntal skill.

Works

ORCH.: 4 symphonic suites (1913–39); Symphonic Overture (1914; rev. 1925); Ballade for Cello and Orch. (Vienna, Feb. 20, 1919); Romantische Suite (1932-36; rev. 1940); Suite (1937–38). CHAMBER: Viola Sonata (1912); Clarinet Sonata (1912–13); Violin Sonata (1913–14); Piano Sextet (1917); String Sextet (1918–19); 2 string quartets (1920, 1920); Piano Trio (1921); Cello Sonata (1922); 2 string quintets (1923; 1938, rev. 1947); Piano Quintet (1931); Clarinet Quintet (1931); piano pieces. VOCAL: Choral works; song cycles.

Bibliography

E. Müller von Asow, E. K. (Vienna, 1941); T. Leibnitz, Österreichische Spätromantiker: Studien zu Emil Nikolaus von Rezniček, Joseph Marx, Franz Schmidt, und E. K. (Tutzing , 1986).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire