Emil von Reznicek
Emil Nikolaus Joseph, Baron von Reznicek, was an Austrian composer. He was born in Vienna on 4 May 1860 and died in Berlin on 5 August 1945. He was the grandson of the military bandmaster Joseph, Baron von Reznicek, and the brother of the painter Ferdinand von Reznicek. His father was Field Marshal Joseph, Baron von Reznicek, and his mother was Clarisse, née Princess Ghika.
From 1878 to 1881, Reznicek studied law at the University of Graz before turning to music. In Graz he studied music theory with Wilhelm Mayer alongside Ferruccio Busoni and Felix Weingartner. He continued his training at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1881 to 1884, studying piano with Carl Reinecke and music theory with Salomon Jadassohn.
Reznicek worked as an opera conductor and musical director in Prague, Weimar, Mannheim and Berlin. In 1920 he became a teacher at the Berlin University of Music, and he also served for a time as chairman of the International Composers' Association.
His operas include The Maid of Orleans (1886), Satanella (1887), Emmerich Fortunat (1888), Donna Diana (1894), Till Eulenspiegel (1900), Bluebeard the Knight (1918), Holofernes (1922), Satuala (1926), Play or Earnest? (1930), and The Gondolier of the Doge (1931). The overture to Donna Diana, based on the comedy by Moretto, was frequently performed during the 1950s and enabled him to support himself through composition.
His orchestral output includes five symphonies: the First, “Tragic” (1902); the Second, “Ironic” (1904); the Third, “in the Old Style” (1918); the Fourth (1919); and the Fifth, “Dance Symphony” (1924). Other works include a violin concerto, a concert piece for violin and orchestra, two serenades for strings, symphonic variations on Kol Nidrei, and the symphonic poems The Victor and Schlemihl. His first string quartet, composed in 1921, received its world premiere in 1996, performed by the Vienna Franz Schubert Quartet.