Erich Wolfgang Korngold
A Viennese wunderkind who escaped the Nazis and defined the sound of Hollywood swashbucklers with his lush, romantic orchestral scores.
1897–1957 (age 60)·Austrian-born American composer and conductor·Birthday: May 29·The Lost Generation
Biography
Erich Wolfgang Korngold lived two magnificent musical lives. In pre-war Vienna, he was hailed as a Mozart-level child prodigy, composing operas that impressed Gustav Mahler. His second act began when he fled the Nazis for Hollywood. There, he didn't just write film music; he essentially invented the modern cinematic score for the era of sound. For films like 'The Adventures of Robin Hood,' he applied the full grandeur of late-Romantic orchestration, treating each adventure as a through-composed opera without singing. This approach earned him Oscars and created the template for epic storytelling in film. After the war, he returned to concert music, but his legacy was sealed: he had elevated movie music from background accompaniment to a serious art form, directly influencing every composer of fantasy and adventure films that followed.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Erich was born in 1897, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Erich Was Born
The biggest hits of 1897
Erich's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1897Born
President: William McKinley
1902Started school
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1910Became a teenager
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1913Could drive
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
1915Could vote
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1918Turned 21
World War I ends; Spanish flu pandemic kills millions
President: Woodrow Wilson
1927Turned 30
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1937Turned 40
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1947Turned 50
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1957Turned 60
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
Key Achievements
- Won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score for 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938) and 'Anthony Adverse' (1936).
- Composed the opera 'Die tote Stadt' at age 23, which became a staple of the German repertoire.
- Pioneered the use of leitmotifs and through-composed, symphonic structures in Hollywood film scoring.
- Was the first composer of significant classical stature to devote his primary career to writing for motion pictures.
Did You Know?
Composer Gustav Mahler declared the young Korngold a genius after hearing one of his early compositions.
His father, Julius Korngold, was the powerful chief music critic of Vienna's leading newspaper.
He became a U.S. citizen in 1943 and scored war propaganda films for the Office of War Information.
“Music is music, whether it is for the stage, the cinema, or the concert hall.”
