Ernst Krenek : the man and his music

470 Pages·1991·22.2 MB·English

by  Stewart, John L. (John Lincoln)

1ML1V
ERNST KRENEEIK
THE MAN AND HIS MUSI c
ERNST KRENEK
THEMANANDHISMUSIC
JOHNL.STEWART
WhenErnstKrenek'soperaJonnyspieltauf
(Jonnyplayson)openedinLeipzigin1927,
itbecameaninstantandspectacularsuccess.
Itwassoonperformedinoverahundredcities
andtranslatedintoadozenlanguages.Both
thrillingandscandalizingaudienceswithitsuse
ofjazz,itsstartlingstageeffects,itssexualfrank-
ness,anditsportrayalofablackjazzviolinistas
thequintessenceoffreedom,itbecamethemost
popularoperaofthiscentury.AndAustrian-born
Krenek,easilyoneofthiscentury'smostprolific
majorcomposers,becameawealthyman.
Tenyearslater,however,hefoundhimselfa
destituterefugee,fleeingtotheUnitedStatesas
Hitler'stroopsinvadedAustria.Hiswork,always
avant-garde,hadbecomeincreasinglypolitical;
HitlerbanneditandlabeledKreneka"cultural
Bolshevist."Krenekenduredlongperiodsof
hardshipandneglectbeforehismusic,much
admiredbysuchcolleaguesasStravinskyand
AlbanBergbutstrangetoAmericanears,was
rediscoveredbyEuropeansafterthewar.Even-
tuallyitbroughthimfinancialsecurityandmany
honors,includingtheGoldMedalofVienna
andtheCrossofAustria,andithasbeencele-
bratedbyfestivalsinVienna,Salzburg,Berlin,
andothercities.
Krenek,whoin1945becameanAmerican
citizen,hasbeenasexperimentalandbroad-
ranginginhiscompositionsashehasbeenpro-
lific.His240musicalworksinclude20operas
aswellassymphonies,pianoconcertos,string
quartetsandotherchambermusic,choral
pieces,songcycles,andsonatasforvarious
instruments.Theybrilliantlyillustratetheprinci-
palmusicaltrendsofthecentury:Neoromantic
tonality,Neoclassicism,freeatonalitythetwelve-
tonetechnique,integralserialism,andelectronic
music.Anaccomplishedteacherandwriteras
ERNST KRENEK
This On©
III 111illIII
RCA8-W8N-4J0B
JOHN STEWART
L.
ERNST K RE NEK
TheManandHisMusic
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley LosAngeles Oxford
Copyighledmalarial
UniversityofCaliforniaPress
BerkeleyandLosAngeles,California
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Ltd.
Oxford,England
©1991by
TheRegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-
PublicationData
Stewart,JohnL.(JohnLincoln)
ErnstKrenek:themanandhismusic/
JohnL.Stewart,
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-520-07014-3(alk.paper)
1.Krenek,Ern—st,1900-
2.Composers Biography. I.Tide.
ML410.K7365S7 1991
780'.92—dc20
[B] 90-3900
CIP
MN
P1rin2ted3in4the5Uni6ted7Sta8tes9ofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetsthe
minimumrequirementsofAmerican
National—StandardforInformation
SLciibernacreysMatPereiramlasn,eAnNcSeIofZP3a9p.e4r8-f1or98P4r.in©ted
CopyrightedmaBrial
ForRuth
Copyrightedmalarial
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Prologue 1
1. TheEarlyYearsinVienna: 1900-1919 3
2. TheYoungAtonalist: 1920-1923 21
3. ComedyandConfusion:1924-1926 47
4. Krenek'sEarlyOperas 66
5. NeoromanticismandtheInfluenceofSchubert: 1927—1930 93
6. Doubts,Dismay,andtheSearchforNewDirections: 1930-1932 122
Z KarlVandChristianHumanism 154
8. ActivistandEssayist: 1933-1938 178
9. AModernistinAmerica: 1939-1942 211
10. NewBeginnings: 1942-1949 237
11. AdventuresinSerialism: 1950-1970 265
.
12 TheLaterOperas:KrenekasLibrettist 312
13. IntimationsofMortalityandaLateHarvest:1970-1984 338
Epilogue 371
AppendixA.Sestina 375
AppendixB.ErnstKrenek'sCompositions 379
AppendixC.SelectedDiscqgraphy 391
AppendixD.BooksbyKrenek 397
Notes 399
AnnotatedBibliography 417
Index 421
viii CONTENTS
CopynflhtBdmaterial
—
PREFACE
ThisbookistheresultofmyadmirationforErnstKrenekandhismusic.Ifirst
heardofbothwhilestillanundergraduate.Oneofmyteachershadspentasabbati-
calyearinViennaandlikedtotellusaboutArnoldSchdnberg,AlbanBerg,and
ErnstKrenek.Heillustratedhisaccountsbyplayingsnatchesoftheirmusic.(Like
Krenekhimself,hecouldgiveoneasenseofawholeoperausingjustapianoand
hisownunoperaticvoice.) He madetheverynamesofthesemenexcitingand
alluring.Thus,whenIwasaskedinthelatefortiesifI—wouldliketomeetKrenek
whoIhadnotknownwasevenintheUnitedStates IsaidthatindeedIwould.
HeandBerta,hissecondwife,werelivingintheLosAngeleshomeofanacquain-
tanceofmine,andtherewetookpartinsocialgatheringsandengagedinanumber
ofconversations.Having,asitwere,rediscoveredhim,Iattendedconcertsofhis
musicandaseriesoflecturesthathegaveonsuchtopicsasthemusicofAnton
WebernandthenotebooksofBeethoven.Ourfriendshipprospered.ButsoonIleft
SouthernCalifornia,andwesawlittleofeachotheruntilIreturnedtherein1964,
whereuponwebegantomeetfrequently.In1971Idecidedtowriteabookabout
himandhismusic,andKrenekgenerouslyagreedtomakehispapersavailableand
toletmeinterviewhimasoftenaswasneeded.
ItwasunderstoodfromtheoutsetthatIwouldbewritingforthegeneralreader
andnotforspecialists.IwantedtomakeKrenek,hismusic,andhiswritingson
manytopicsbetterknowntoawideaudienceofpersonsinterestedinthefinearts.I
decidedthatinaddressingthemIwouldnotengageinclosetechnicalanalysesof
musicalworks,thoughIlaterfoundthatsomeanalysesandillustrativeexcerptswere
neededinthediscussionsoftwelve-toneandserialmusic.Ialsodecidedtoinclude
onlyasmuchaboutsocialandpoliticalmovementsandeventsaswouldberequired
foranunderstandingoftheenvironmentsinwhichKreneklivedandworkedand
howtheyaffectedhisthoughtandart.This,tobesure,provedtobeaconsiderable
amount,butitdidnotentail,forexample,extendedtreatmentsofAustrianintellec-
tualhistoryandideology.Similarly,figuressuchasT.W.AdornoandKarlKraus
wouldbeconsideredintermsoftheirrelationswithandeffectonKrenek,butno
attemptwouldbemadetoofferatrulycomprehensivedescriptionoftheirlarger
rolesinCentralEuropeanculture.Thisbookisnot,therefore,anexerciseinmusi-
cologyorintellectualhistoryinanystrictsense,thoughIhopethatmusicologists
andhistorianswillfindheremuchofusewhentheyundertakethestudiesthat
Krenek'slifeandmusiceminendymerit.
MygreatestdebtistoKrenekandtohiswife,GladysNordenstrom Krenek.
Withouttheirpatientandunstintinghelp,thisbookwouldhavebeenimpossible.
InfairnesstothemImustpointoutthatIaloneamresponsiblefortheopinionsput
forward:exceptforquotationsandobviousparaphrases,the"voice"addressingthe
readerismyown.Th—eKreneks,Iknow,wouldtakeexceptiontosomeofthethings
thisvoicehastosay whichisbutoneindicationofthewhollyfreehandIwas
allowedtoexercise.
AftertheKreneksIowemosttomygoodfriend,theViennesemusicwriter,
editor,andbiographerFriedrichSaathen,whosharedwithmematerialsrelatingto
Krenekthathehadaccumulatedovermanyyears,includinghisinvaluablenoteson
conversationswiththecomposer'smother.GarrettBowles,musiclibrarianatthe
UniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego,andcustodianofitsErnstKrenekArchive,
mademyworkmucheasierbylettingmeuseanearlydraftofhisErnstKrenek:A
Bio-Bibliography (1989) and bypassingontomeinformationuncovered inthe
courseofhisownresearch.ClaudiaMaurerZenck,whoseErnstKrenek,einKom-
ponistinExil(1980)wasthefirstmajorstudyofKrenek'smusic,helpedmeobtain
materialsfromAustriaandWestGermanyand,inoveradecadeoffriendshipand
support,offeredmanyfruitfulsuggestions.ErnstHilmarandthestaffoftheMusic
LibraryoftheWienerStadt-undLandesbibliothekgavememuchassistanceasI
mademywaythroughthevastaccumulationofKrenekpapersundertheircare.
Composers RobertErickson,WilburOgdon,andBeverlyGrisgby,allofwhom
studiedunderKrenekwhenyoungandhavesincefollowedhismusicclosely,shared
recollectionswithmeandofferedinsightsthatenrichedmyaccountsofthemusic
andthe imaginationthatcreatedit.Tworemarkablewomenhelpedtogivethe
accountsmuchofwhatevercolortheypossess:thelateAnnaMahlerrecalledwith
infectiousamusementwhatitwasliketobeyounggeniusesinBerlinduringthe
earlytwenties;thelateBeverlyBoltonoftenremindedmewithwhimsicalironythat
Ishouldremembertoaddressmyselftoanaudienceofwhichshewouldhavebeen
aforemostmember.TheoperaandliedersingerJoanneRegenhardtpointedout
featuresofKrenek'svocalmusicasperceivedbyaperformer.TrudyLaDue,for
manyyearsmycherishedadministrativeassistantandafinemusicianinherown
right,madeitpossibleformetofindtimeforresearchandwritinginthemidstof
theinnumerabledemandsonauniversityofficerandgavecheerfulencouragement
onthedayswhenthedemandsseemedoverwhelming. AngelaSanderspatiendy
boretheburdenofmanyclericalduties.AnneGeissmanCanright,servingascopy
editor,rescuedmefromembarrassingerrorsandgreatlyimprovedmyprose.She,
certainly,knowshowgreatismyindebtednesstoher.Mywife,Ruth,whoshared
manyofthetalkswiththeKreneks,helpedmetoabetterunderstandingofwhat
wassaidthanIcouldhavereachedonmyown.Finally,theCommitteeonResearch
attheUniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego,providedfundsthatenabledmetowork
inVienna,Graz,Darmstadt,andWashington,D.C.