PROGRAM NOTE

This afternoon, we celebrate Zemlinsky as a composer and his beautiful and charming lieder.

Although Zemlinsky was best known for his conducting, he was a fine composer and pianist who was closely linked to the New Viennese School, albeit less innovative than his colleagues. His music embodies a decidedly emotional intensity, beauty and playfulness. He was recognized by the great German composers Johannes Brahms and was a mentor and teacher of Schoenberg, Berg and Korngold. This afternoon we hope to give you a glimpse into Zemlinsky’s world of music and the music of those in his circle.

Zemlinsky was born in Vienna. His father was of Viennese Catholic decent and his mother, of mixed Sephardic-Muslim heritage. His father converted to Judaism a year before Zemlinsky was born and Zemlinsky was raised Jewish, but he converted to Protestantism when he was 28. He was musically gifted from a young age studying piano and playing organ at his Synagogue. After his basic schooling, he enrolled in the Vienna Conservatory where he studied piano with Anton Door, and composition with Robert Fuchs. Door invited Brahms to hear two performances of Zemlinsky’s music: Symphony in D and his String Quintet in D minor. Brahms was so impressed, he recommended Zemlinsky to the publisher N. Simrock. Zemlinsky also won 1st prize in the Beethoven Prize, a competition founded and sponsored by Brahms.

Zemlinksy first met Schoenberg when he conducted his amateur orchestra, Polyhymnia, in which Schoenberg was a cellist. Zemlinsky became Schoenberg’s counterpoint teacher (his only formal theory teacher) and they ultimately became close friends. Some of Schoenberg’s early compositions are dedicated to Zemslinky, including his Op. 1 Lieder. Schoenberg eventually married Zemlinsky’s sister, Mathilde, in 1901, and around this time, Zemlinsky had a passionate affair with Alma Schindler. In the end, she was pointedly cruel to Zemlinsky regarding his physical appearance, and she rejected him in favor of Mahler. Zemlinsky eventually married Ida Guttmann in 1907, but it was an unhappy marriage. She died in 1929. Zemlinsky remarried Luise Sachsel in 1930 a decidedly young woman and long-time singing student of his. They remained happily married until his death.

In 1903 Zemlinsky took a job teaching orchestration at the Schwarzwald school where he taught many well-known composers, including Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and privately, Erich Korngold. During this period, Gustav Mahler recognized Zemlinsky’s talent and premiered his second opera, Es war einmal. Mahler also helped sponsor an organization Schoenberg and Zemlinsky founded called the Vereinigung Schaffender Tonkünstler. This organization promoted new music in Vienna. Zemlinsky was an active conductor from a young age. He was Kapellmeister at two operetta houses, the Carltheater and the Theater an der Wien, chief conductor at the Volksoper (he premiered Strauss’ Salome and Dukas; Ariane et Barbe-Bleue and his own Kleider machen Leute).

In 1911 he was given the post of Musical Director at the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague. He composed some of his finest works during that period: the Maeterlinck Lieder, the Second Quartet, the Lyrische Symphonie, Eine florentinische Tragödie and the opera Der Zwerg. During Zemlinsky’s years in Prague, his musical assistants were: Kleiber, Webern and Szell, and his chorus master was Viktor Ullman. In 1920, he was appointed rector of the Deutsche Akademie für Music und Bildende Kunst, where he taught composition masterclasses which included Krása. His years in Prague led Zemlinsky to became a champion of Czech music.

Consequently, when he guest conducted, he often featured such composers as Smetana, Janáček and Suk. He was particularly well-known for his opera conducting of Mozart and Strauss. Stravinsky reportedly said that Zemlinsky’s Figaro in Prague was the most satisfying opera performance opera he had ever heard. Zemlinsky conducted the world première of Schoenberg’s Erwartung and he went on to conduct many other cutting edge composers of the time, including Hindemith, Krenek, Schulhoff, Stravinsky and Weill. Despite his secure position in Prague, Zemlinsky attempted to return to Vienna and to gain recognition in Germany. in 1923 Max Schillings offered him the post of Generalmusikdirektor at the Staatsoper in Berlin. He declined the offer due to rising inflation in Germany, a decision he most likely regretted. He returned to Prague, but a new Kapellmeister in Prague created some work challenges, so in 1927 Zemlinsky moved to Berlin, but he was force to take an inferior and subordinate position at the Kroll Oper. He stayed in Berlin, despite being offered more favorable general music director positions elsewhere. As a conductor, he also taught score-reading and chose to expand his guest conducting which took him to France, Italy, Russia and Spain. His busy schedule left him little time to compose.

In 1933, Zemlinsky premièred a new composition Der Kreidekreis after a 6 year composing hiatus, but 1933 proved to be a grim year for many creative artists. Zemlinsky, like so many other Jewish musicians, was forced to leave Germany in 1933. He returned to Vienna and began composing more, but five years later in 1938, he was forced to flee to Prague and ultimately to New York. Unlike Schoenberg and Korngold, who found their niches in teaching and film movie respectively, Zemlinsky struggled to find his musical niche in America. He could not look to Schoenberg for help as their friendship had a falling out in 1933 partly over Schoenberg’s 12 tone compositional shift and due to Schoenberg’s serious return to his Judaism. A debilitating stroke also played a huge role in his demise in America. He had a few moments of recognition, including a nationwide NBC broadcast of his Sinfonietta conducted by Mitropolis, but nothing that lead to a secure position, wide recognition, or a place in the American music scene. The New York Times published his obituary in both America and Europe, but he his death went mostly unnoticed in Europe and was only moderately recognized in America.

— Allison Voth, Chamber Series Music Director