Ernst Krenek

Born Aug. 23, 1900, in Vienna. Austrian composer.

Křenek studied with F. Schreker, first at the Vienna Academy of Music and then at the Berlin Higher School of Music. During 1928–37 he lived mainly in Vienna; in 1938 he moved to the USA.

Křenek’s fame developed in the mid-1920’s, with the production of the operas Der Sprung Über Den Schatten (1924) and Jonny Spielt Auf (1927), both of which were also staged in the USSR. He evolved from the late romantic style, through an infatuation with urbanism and constructivism, to a mastery of dodecaphony. He became an active propagandist of dodecaphony. Křenek’s first important dodecaphonic work was the opera Karl V (produced in 1938). He wrote 15 operas, five symphonies, and other works in many genres. He is a music theorist and critic and has lectured at US universities.