Erich Wolfgang Korngold was a composer who lived from 1897 to 1957. He grew up in Vienna and was one of the most gifted child composers in history. At 11, he wrote a ballet that was staged at the city’s opera house. As an adult, he moved to Hollywood and wrote the music for adventure films. The sound of film music today owes a great deal to him. The best first piece for a child is the march from The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Quick facts
- Born: 1897, in Brno, in what is now the Czech Republic
- Died: 1957, in Los Angeles, California
- Era: Modern, in a Romantic style
- Played: piano
- Known for: the opera Die tote Stadt, the Violin Concerto, and film scores such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk
The life in short
Korngold’s father was the most powerful music critic in Vienna. He gave his son the middle name Wolfgang, after Mozart. The boy lived up to it.
He played the piano at five and composed at seven. When he was nine, his father took him to play for the composer Gustav Mahler. Mahler listened and called the boy a genius. He sent him to study with one of the best teachers in the city.
At 11, Erich wrote a ballet called The Snowman. The Vienna Court Opera staged it when he was 13, and the emperor came to watch. The audience could not believe that a child had written it.
His piano pieces were played by famous pianists. At 23, he had a hit opera, Die tote Stadt, which opened in two German cities on the same night.
In 1934, a theater director invited him to Hollywood to arrange music for a film. Korngold went back and forth between Vienna and California for a few years. In early 1938, he was in Hollywood to write the music for The Adventures of Robin Hood. While he was there, Nazi Germany took over Austria. Korngold’s family was Jewish, and it was no longer safe to go home. He said later that the film saved his life.
He stayed in America and became a citizen. Two of his film scores won Oscars.
After the war, he returned to concert music. His style was out of fashion by then, and critics were unkind. He died in 1957. His music has come back since.
What the music sounds like
Korngold wrote for a huge orchestra in a lush, late Romantic style. His tunes are bold and soaring. Brass fanfares ring out for the heroes, and the strings sweep in for the love scenes.
He treated a film as an opera without singing. Each main character has a tune of their own, and the tune returns whenever that character matters to the story.
Later film composers followed his lead. A child who knows the music of Star Wars will find Korngold familiar. Read John Williams for kids.
Pieces to play first
March of the Merry Men, from The Adventures of Robin Hood. A jaunty march for Robin and his band in Sherwood Forest.
Main title, from The Sea Hawk. A blaze of trumpets for a pirate adventure. It is two minutes of pure heroics.
Violin Concerto, last movement. A leaping, playful finale. He built the concerto from tunes he had written for films.
The Snowman. Music from the ballet he wrote at 11. It is light and sweet, in the style of a Vienna waltz.
Things to do together
Hero or villain? Play a minute from Robin Hood or The Sea Hawk. Ask who is on screen: a hero, a villain, or someone in love. Ask which instruments gave the clue.
How old was he? Play The Snowman. Tell your child the composer was 11. Ask what an 11-year-old in your family could write.
Film night. The Adventures of Robin Hood, from 1938, is a family film with sword fights and no gore. Watch a scene with the sound off and then with it on.
Then and now. Play the main title from The Sea Hawk and then the main title from Star Wars. List what they share.
Two careers
Korngold had two lives in music: one as a prodigy in the opera houses of Europe, and one as a film composer in California. For years, people looked down on the second. Today, orchestras play his film music in concert halls with pride.
Print and play
Fill in a composer study notebook page for Korngold. Read about more young composers in child prodigy composers. For the composer he was named after, read Mozart for kids.
For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.
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This article is part of Classical composers for kids: a guide by era, from Vivaldi to Britten.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.