Despite being a well-respected teacher, Reizenstein was never offered a composition tutor position in his adopted country, instead becoming a professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Reizenstein, a student of Paul Hindemith and Ralph Vaughan Williams, believed tonality was indispensable, stating, 'I believe that tonal relationships are as much of a natural phenomenon as the laws of the spectrum.'
Composer Biography
During World War II, Reizenstein was interned as an 'enemy alien' on the Isle of Man before being released to work as a railway clerk.
Cultural Impact
Reizenstein composed scores for film, including the B-movie thriller 'The Mummy' (1959) and 'Circus of Horrors' (1960).
Performer Biography
Reizenstein was an outstanding pianist who often programmed his own works, playing the piano part in 125 out of 132 performances of his music in Britain during his lifetime.
Composer Biography
Franz Reizenstein, born in Nuremberg in 1911, was forced to leave Germany in 1934 and came to London as a refugee upon Hitler's rise to power.
Compositional Technique
Reizenstein's 'Twelve Preludes and Fugues' (1953/54) explores modal and polytonal harmonies, inspired by Paul Hindemith's 'Ludus Tonalis' and its 'Series I' of chromatic scale relationships.
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