More than anybody else, Erich Wolfgang Korngold deserved to be called the Father of Modern Film Music.
More than anybody else, Erich Wolfgang Korngold deserved to be called the Father of Modern Film Music.
A child prodigy who wrote his first musical symphony at the age of 11, Korngold was born in the town of Brünn in Austria in May 1897 and quickly rose to be world renowned as the most exciting child musician since Mozart. Under the amazed eyes of the likes of Strauss and Mahler, Korngold wrote operas, operettas and huge orchestral pieces prolifically until he was tempted into the film world in 1935, at the age 38. He was asked by director Max Reinhardt to adapt Mendelssohn's music for a cinema performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Korngold agreed and Hollywood was never the same again. His work during the next five years, which included Captain Blood, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Sea Hawk quickly set the standard for all composers in the future: huge, vibrant cues, brassy adventure themes and tender and passionate romantic melodies. During this time, Korngold was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning twice in 1936 and 1938. Somewhat surprisingly, Korngold scored only twenty films during his career, his last coming in 1956 when he was asked to adapt music by Wagner for a biopic starring Alan Badel. Sadly, on 29 November 1957, Korngold suffered a cerebral thrombosis and died at the age of 60. He was virtually unknown at the time of his death, and only now is his great impact and legacy to the world of film music becoming recognized.
From 1984 his major works have been recorded and his classical works start to take the status they deserve in the world of classical music.