Egk, Werner

Born May 17, 1901, in Auchsesheim, near Augsburg. German composer and musical figure (Federal Republic of Germany). Member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (1951).

Egk received his musical education at the Augsburg Conservatory and pursued further study in Munich with C. Orff. He became known in the 1930’s as a conductor and took up residence in Munich in 1954. Egk’s work, which developed under the influence of R. Strauss, Hindemith, and Stravinsky, is based on elements drawn from the folklore of ancient Germany, which are transformed through various modern compositional techniques. Egk’s finest compositions have generally been written to his own librettos taken from the classics of world literature. Examples are the operas Peer Gynt (1938, based on the play by Ibsen), The Inspector-General (1957, based on the play by Gogol), and Betrothal in Santo Domingo (1963, based on themes from the short story by Kleist). Egk has served as head of the German Composers’ Association.