Ernst Krenek (1900-1991)

Austrian-American composer Ernst Krenek traveled Europe as lecturer and accompanist (mostly for programs of his own work) early in his career. He also conducted operas at Kassel and Wiesbaden in Germany.In 1938, Krenek fled Europe for the United States during the Anschluss-the annexation of Austria by Germany. He became a United States citizen in 1945.

Krenek was professor of music at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., from 1939-1942, and served as head of the music department at Hamline College in St. Paul, Minn., from 1942-1947. His early work was influenced by Gustav Mahler; his later style was aligned with composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and Paul Hindemith. Krenek was considered to be of high philosophical intellect and imaginative in his compositional technique.

Selected works include Mammon, Opus. 37 (1925) and Dream Sequence, Opus 224 (1975).

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