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String Quartet No. 8, op. 233 (1980-1981)
Commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts for the Thouvenel String Quartet, String Quartet No. 8 is Krenek's last. The work is something of a summary of Krenek's career, drawing upon all his previous string quartets in the course of its 23-minute single movement. Krenek's late compositional style is reflected here in the eclectic use of twelve-note and serial techniques combined with freer elements. The piece is divided roughly into ten sections, the first and last of which are retrogrades of each other.
Ernst Krenek (1900-1991) was among the most prolific composers of the twentieth century, creating hundreds of works encompassing a wide variety of styles and techniques. Notable chapters in Krenek's musical explorations include the Bartók-influenced dissonance of his early mature works, a Schubert-inspired neoromantic period in the late 1920's, twelve-note compositions including the full-length opera Karl V (1932-1933), anticipations of serial techniques in his Lamentatio Jeremiae prophetae (1941-1942), experiments with serial and chance procedures in the 1950's, and an eventual abandonment of strict musical systems in his late works. Ernst Krenek:
"Looking back over the evolution of my musical style, I am not astonished that even benevolent observers became confused and vacillating in their faith. Whenever they thought I had comfortably settled down in some stylistic district, I was not at the expected place the next time, and the business of classifying had to start all over again ... I have been striving for an ever-free and more incisive articulation of musical thought."
Born and raised in Vienna, Austria, Krenek studied piano and wrote short pieces as a child; when he was 16, he took up composition lessons with Franz Schreker, with whom he would study for six years in Vienna and Berlin. Post-WWI Berlin proved a very stimulating environment for Krenek; during his time there he came to know Artur Schnabel, Gustav Mahler (Krenek was married to Mahler's daughter Anna for less than a year), Igor Stravinsky, and Rainer Maria Rilke, with whom he collaborated on the song cycle O Lacrymosa (1926). In 1925 Krenek became assistant director at the Staatstheater in Kassel, Germany, which gave him a thorough knowledge of opera production. Influenced by his studies of Schubert and a meeting with the composers of Les Six in Paris, he began to write in a more accessible, neoromantic style.
Krenek returned to Vienna in 1928, where he befriended Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Influenced by their music, he began to use twelve-note compositional techniques in his own work; he also regularly contributed to newspapers and music journals. Krenek's music and writings were banned by the Nazis in the early 1930's; he emigrated to the United States shortly after they took over Austria in 1938. Over the next three decades, he would teach at schools across the US, including the University of Michigan, Vassar College in New York, Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, Princeton University in New Jersey, and the University of California at San Diego. Although constantly travelling to give lectures in the US and Europe, Krenek settled in the Los Angeles area in 1950 and composed some of his most important works in the decade following. Through his study of medieval counterpoint and work with electronic music, he became interested in serial and chance procedures and their relationship to time.
Krenek moved to Palm Springs, California in 1966, where he lived for the rest of his life, continuing to write prolifically and in a freer style. Festivals of his music were held regularly on both sides of the Atlantic; his honors included many honorary doctorates and citizenships in Europe and the US, and such awards as the German Order of Merit, Silver Medal of Austria, Gold Medal of the City of Vienna, Great Austrian State Prize, Crosses of Germany and Austria, and Brandeis University Music Prize. The Krenek Archive and Krenek Prize were founded in Vienna in the 1980's. His music has been recorded on major labels as well as Albany, Cambria, CRI, Gasparo, Pearl, Phoenix Classics, and Vanguard Classics.
related websites
http://www.krenek.com
The Thouvenel String Quartet of Texas was known for its commissions of US composers including Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Mel Powell, and Ernst Krenek (with whom they worked on all of his eight quartets). The quartet toured Europe, China, and Tibet, won first prize at the Vienna International Chamber Music Competition, and performed on NBC's "TODAY Show". They conducted chamber music workshops at a number of schools and universities, including the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Diego State University, and New Mexico State University.
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