Krenek: Music for Chamber Orchestra

Featuring

Ernst Kovacic
Agata Zubel
Mathias Hausmann
Leopoldinum Orchestra
Ernst Krenek

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Historical Context

Jonny spielt auf became an emblematic example of 'degenerate' music for the Nazis, and their rise to power, combined with the reception of his twelve-tone opera Karl V, forced Krenek into exile in America in 1938.

Historical Context

Krenek came of age in Vienna during the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, a time when new mass culture forms like wireless and gramophone were transforming cultural life.

Composer's Artistic Vision

From the start of his career, Krenek aimed to be more than a passive reflector of the world, seeing himself as both its witness and conscience.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Krenek's experience of exile profoundly influenced his work for fifty years, leading him to believe that exile, in both physical and abstract senses, is an unavoidable condition of modern life.

Composition History

Krenek's opera Jonny spielt auf, a jazz-inflected Zeitoper (an opera reflecting contemporary concerns), premiered in 1927 and caused an immediate sensation, being performed worldwide.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in the Hall of Radio Wrocław, Poland, in March and May 2011 by CD Accord.

Composer Biography

Ernst Krenek (1900-91), an Austrian-born composer, had a productive life spanning over seventy years, creating music in most common forms of modern Western art music.