Erich Wolfgang Korngold

American university students travel to Austria to help commemorate Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s 50th Anniversary 

When John Mauceri – conductor, former music director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and film music expert – arrived in Vienna at the end of November 2007 to conduct a special concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, he brought with him a handful of students from the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he is currently Chancellor of the school.
Four of these students were members of the school’s Stern Quartet – founded by the famous violinist Isaac Stern – who not only performed at the opening concert at Haus der Musik in Vienna on Sunday, but were granted the special privilege of joining the Radio Symphony Orchestra for their landmark concert on Thursday, 29 Nov 2007. Here they give a special interview about their experiences. (Note: The interview was conducted by Troy O. Dixon, and answers were provided by the Quartet through the first violinist Josh Holritz.)
The prospect alone of performing in Vienna was quite overwhelming. As a classical musician, Vienna is a ‘buzz’ word. The rich history of culture and beautiful tradition of music are enough to make any serious lover of classical music long for an opportunity to visit Vienna let alone perform there! The anticipation for this trip was very high amongst all four of us. I think we all caught ourselves thinking at times, “Are we really going on this trip – is it really possible?”
Almost immediately after we found out that we would be the Stern Quartet for the 2007-08 academic year we were told we would be going to Vienna. That was in the middle of the summer of 2007, while most of us were at summer music festivals. It was quite exciting news. Our colleagues at these festivals, some from very reputable conservatories, were quite jealous saying that their schools would never do something like this.
Part of this trip was to foster more interaction between different university departments. One of the weaknesses at NCSA, which I believe that Mr. Mauceri is trying to change, is the little amount of interaction that takes place between the different schools. Yes, we get watch the films that have been produced at the film school and the dancers and drama students will come to an orchestra concert, however the process of creating the art is not seen so much. I don’t know what a typical schedule for a screenwriter is and a costume designer has never experienced the inner workings of a string quartet rehearsal. Last year’s production of West Side Story was, I believe, a major step in changing this weakness in the NCSA community. There was close interaction on a new level between all of the schools because all of the schools were involved in a single production. The results speak for themselves. This trip was another step. I had no idea that there were composers on our campus who had no interaction with the school of music. Chris Heckman who is a composer – yes for film, but a composer nonetheless – was someone who I had no idea went to the same school as I did. This thought blew my mind! How is it that we have people composing music at our school not involved with the school of music? As our quartet got to know him we realized what a gifted person he is and we began to understand more of his field as he did ours. We also had a film student, Jarrett Eitner, who made a documentary of the trip and its events. It was interesting to see him at work at his art and I think he in turn learned a lot about the music world. In addition to this group of students there were also two vocalists, Rachel Wallace (a current student) and Nick Dothee (an alumnus of NCSA), who were able to join us for the trip. They performed wonderful solo and duet works by Korngold at the Haus der Musik concert and the audience absolutely loved them!
Of course we had all heard of the composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, but other than the fact that he had written a pretty well known violin concerto as well as some film music, we had really no clue who he was and what huge contributions he had made to the world of classical music. I think we were all surprised to find out that he had come from such an amazing tradition in Vienna. Looking back now, we realize the importance of participating in some of the events around his rejuvenation in his native city.
We had a number of special preparatory rehearsals before we set out for Austria. Chancellor Mauceri rehearsed intensely with us several days before we left for Vienna. This time was important because it gave us a chance to go over technical aspects of the music such as tempos and bowings but we also got a sense of what we could expect once we arrived in Vienna and began playing with the orchestra. The rehearsals however were not just about playing the notes but were more geared toward understanding the history behind not only Korngold and the film music genre, but more importantly the culture and events that surrounded this time period. There is a wealth of information in the form of untold stories that once known, make this music much more accessible and understandable. For example, the little known fact that Korngold was recognized as a young talent by Gustav Mahler immediately gave me the understanding that Korngold’s music is not necessarily the result of a demand that needed to be filled by the popular culture, but his music is the next branch on the family tree of great classical composers. The rehearsals with the Chancellor were full of moments like this.
Performing with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra was one of the most amazing experiences of orchestral playing in which any one of us had taken part. None of the members of our quartet had ever played with an orchestra of that caliber before, which is saying a lot, because all of us have had many orchestral experiences in various places in our combined years of study. There was a sense of musical community in that orchestra that I don’t believe can really be explained in words, only experienced. There was always an unspoken but common goal for which the orchestra was reaching and you knew what it was. The Chancellor did a wonderful job conducting, but even he admitted to a level of musical experience that goes beyond what he was trying to get the orchestra to do. During the intermission of the concert, I said to Guy, “I am not even counting anymore” and he replied “I know! Me either!” We didn’t have to. The orchestra moved together to play phrases and gestures. It was incredible! The great encouragement for us was that in a sense we ‘held our own’ with this orchestra. We had prepared and blended well with this great group of players. The members themselves were very complimentary toward us by the end of the week. It was a source of inspiration especially for Guy and me to keep working hard so that one day we can play music at this level full time.
Our first performance was at the special “welcoming concert” for the Korngold grandchildren and their families at the famous Haus der Musik. We were excited to be able to perform as a quartet in this celebration of Korngold’s legacy. During our dress rehearsal the night before, we were able to play for some of the family members who were there. They gave us some feedback on some of our interpretations. This was especially exciting for us because we knew that these comments of interpretation were not mere opinions but they were coming from the children and grandchildren of the composer himself! The changes we made of course (not surprisingly) worked very well. The performance seemed to be well received by the audience and we were honored to take part in welcoming the family to Vienna.
Luckily, the students were sponsored to participate in this trip. NCSA has always been surrounded by people who have been interested in the success of the school and its students. Many relationships have been built over the years between students and patrons and the Chancellor is trying to make that happen more than ever. Because of his position as a fine conductor and the many occasions he has to conduct around the world, he is able to open avenues of opportunity for students and patrons alike to take part in his schedule. This is how this trip came about. Mr. Mauceri invited several of the school’s donors to participate in this celebration of Korngold’s music in Vienna. In addition to paying their own costs, the donors each gave an extra amount that allowed seven students and one alumnus to participate as well.
There were other highlights for us on this trip than just participating in a couple of performances. After the trip was formally over and the donors and other students had returned home, the quartet was able to stay a few extra days for some sightseeing and exploring. Because of the busy rehearsal schedule during the festival, we had not had much time to get out and look around Vienna. These few days gave us a chance to visit some museums and do some shopping. I got a chance to go to Salzburg and have a lesson at the Mozarteum. Salzburg is also an incredibly rich city. I was there in the evening and the Christmas markets were jammed with people out to buy presents and food. It was very special to be there at that time of year.
I think all of us came out of this trip feeling like we had grown immensely. We had played wonderful music at a very high level in a city that is famous for its music. We had learned so much in the few days that we were there about Austrian history, culture, and music. We met and began relationships with incredible people both from Vienna and from the Unites States. The experiences there will serve to better us as musicians and people and the memories made will never be forgotten.

The 2007-08 Stern Quartet is:
First Violin – Josh Holritz
Second Violin – Guy Oldaker IV
Viola – Laura Manko
Cello – Devree Lewis