Egon Kornauth


Egon Kornauth was an Austrian composer and music teacher.

Life

Kornauth was born in Olmütz, Moravia. A cellist and pianist from his youth, he went in 1909 to Vienna, where he studied with Robert Fuchs, Guido Adler, Franz Schreker and Franz Schmidt.
After teaching music theory at Vienna University from 1919, Kornauth embarked on an international career as pianist, accompanist and conductor that took him to Indonesia and to South America. In 1940 he resumed a teaching career in war-time Vienna and Salzburg. He joined the Nazi-sponsored Reichsmusikkammer, but continued to support his teacher Adler, who was held under house arrest as a Jew, until the latter's death in 1941. In post-war Austria, Kornauth became director of the Salzburg Mozarteum, and was elected to the Austrian Arts Senate in 1954. He died in Vienna in 1959.
Kornauth composed extensively and won a number of prizes including the Austrian State Prize, the Gustav Mahler Foundation prize, and the Austrian Würdigungspreis. His style was however conventional; when the English composer Humphrey Searle visited Vienna in the 1930s he was displeased to find that the only modern music played by the main orchestras was that of Schmidt "or lesser composers like... Kornauth." Kornauth himself recognised in his 1958 autobiography that "epigonism was inherent in my personality." Most of Kornauth's output consists of lieder, chamber music and piano pieces, but there are also five orchestral suites amongst other larger scale pieces.
A recording of some of Kornauth's piano works by Jonathan Powell was released by Toccata Classics in 2013.

Selected works

;Orchestral
;ConcertanteNotturno for viola and chamber orchestra, Op. 3b ; movement II from the Viola SonataBallade for cello and orchestra, Op. 17 Konzertstück for violin and chamber orchestra, Op. 19
;Chamber music
  • Sonata in C minor for viola and piano, Op. 3 ; also for clarinet and piano ; movement II, Notturno, also for viola and chamber orchestra
  • Sonata for clarinet and piano, Op. 52 Vortragsstücke: Scherzo und Andante for violin and piano, Op. 5b
  • Sonata in E minor for violin and piano, Op. 9 Burleske in E minor for flute and piano, Op. 11 Kleine Abendmusik for 2 violins, viola and cello, Op. 14
  • Sonata in D major for violin and piano, Op. 15
  • Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 18
  • String Sextet in A minor for 2 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos, Op. 25 ; also for string orchestra
  • String Quartet in G minor, Op. 26
  • Piano Trio in B minor, Op. 27
  • Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 28
  • String Quintet for 2 violins, 2 violas and cello, Op. 30 Kammermusik, Nonet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass, Op. 31 ; for wind quintet and string quartet, Op. 31a ; Dectet for wind and string quintets, Op. 31bKlarinettenquintett in F minor for clarinet, 2 violins, viola and cello, Op. 33
  • Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 35a ; after the Orchestral Suite No. 3Kleine Hausmusik for 2 violins, viola and cello, Op. 41a ; also for piano, Op. 41bTrio-Suite for violin, cello and piano, Op. 45 Valse triste for viola and piano ; from Trio-Suite, Op. 45
  • Sonatina for violin and piano, Op. 46 3 Stücke for cello and piano, Op. 47 Irish Tune from County Derry for string quintet
;Piano5 Klavierstücke, Op. 2
  • Sonata in A major, Op. 4 Fantasie, Op. 10 3 Klavierstücke, Op. 23 ; also for piano 4-hands, Op. 23aKleine Suite, Op. 29 4 Klavierstücke, Op. 32 ; also for piano 4-hands, Op. 32aPräludium und Passacaglia, Op. 43 5 Klavierstücke, Op. 44 3 Canons
;Vocal6 Lieder for voice and piano, Op. 1 ; Nos. 1, 4 and 6 also for voice and chamber orchestraErntelied von anno 1914 for medium voice and piano ; words by Richard Smekal
  • 4 Gesänge for high voice and piano, Op. 8 ; also for voice and chamber orchestra8 Gesänge nach Richard Smekal for high or medium voice and piano, Op. 12 ; words by Richard Smekal; Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 also for voice and chamber orchestra6 Lieder for medium voice and piano, Op. 21 ; also for voice and chamber orchestra6 Lieder nach Hermann Hesse for medium voice and piano, Op. 22 ; words by Hermann Hesse; Nos. 1~5 also for voice and chamber orchestra; No. 5 also with string orchestraWelt der Zyklamen for voice and piano, Op. 24 No. 34 Lieder nach Brentano for high voice and piano, Op. 34 ; words by Clemens Brentano; No. 1 also for high voice, solo flute and string orchestra; Nos. 2 and 3 also for voice and chamber orchestraSchwanenlied for high voice and piano, Op. 34b; words by Clemens Brentano8 Lieder nach Eichendorff for low voice and piano, Op. 36 ; words by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff; No. 1 also for voice and chamber orchestra6 Lieder nach Eichendorff for high voice and piano, Op. 37 ; words by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff8 Lieder nach Eichendorff for medium-high voice and piano, Op. 38 ; words by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff; Nos. 4 and 8 also for voice and chamber orchestra
;ChoralGesang der späten Linden for female chorus and chamber orchestra, Op. 16 ; words by Richard SmekalDer Abend for female chorus, flute, clarinet and string quartet, Op. 34a ; words by Clemens Brentano