zoom_in Click to enlarge

Ernst Krenek

▲ ▼

description Ernst Krenek Overview

Ernst Krenek (1900-1991) was an Austrian-born American composer whose career encompassed opera, orchestral music, chamber works, songs, and electronic composition. He became widely known through the jazz-influenced opera Jonny spielt auf, first performed in 1927 and closely associated with the cultural climate of the Weimar era. His musical language changed repeatedly, moving through late Romantic, neoclassical, twelve-tone, and serial approaches before and after his emigration to the United States.

help Ernst Krenek FAQ

What is Ernst Krenek's Jonny spielt auf?

It is his jazz-influenced opera, Op. 45, premiered at the Neues Theater in Leipzig on February 10, 1927. The opera's success made Krenek internationally known and it was performed in more than 100 cities. [Ernst Krenek Institute](https://www.krenek.at/buehnenwerke/jonny-spielt-auf) and [University of California Press](https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.13083383).

Did Ernst Krenek write only jazz music?

No. Across his career he moved through neoromanticism, neoclassicism, free atonality, twelve-tone technique, serialism, and electronic music. Jonny spielt auf is the jazz-associated success, not a summary of his entire output. [University of California Press](https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.13083383).

Why was Krenek's music attacked by the Nazis?

The Nazi regime condemned Jonny spielt auf and later labeled Krenek's music degenerate music because of its modernist and jazz associations. He left Europe for the United States in the late 1930s and continued composing there. [Schott Music](https://www.schott-music.com/de/person/ernst-krenek).

Did Ernst Krenek work with electronic music?

Yes. He was invited to work at the WDR Electronic Music Studio in Cologne in 1955, and that experience fed his later electronic and serial work. He also explored computer-assisted composition, which was unusual for his time. [Krenek biography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Krenek).