Jessica Duchen
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: An Exiled Composer and His Missing Link
Summary
First a child prodigy in Mahler’s Vienna, then a superstar composer, Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) subsequently survived World War II in Hollywood, where he scored classic films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk. After his death in 1957, his music was long neglected, but recently it has undergone a remarkable rehabilitation. This talk traces his extraordinary career and asks whether his Symphony in F# is a missing link: a portrait of the war in all but name. Jessica Duchen’s biography of Korngold was published in 1996.
Jessica Duchen
Jessica is a music critic, author and librettist. She contributes to The Sunday Times, the i news and BBC Music Magazine and her operatic work includes Silver Birch and Dalia with Roxanna Panufnik for Garsington Opera. She has written biographies of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Gabriel Fauré and seven novels on music-related topics. Her narrated concerts have been performed at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and numerous festivals. Her next book is a biography of Dame Myra Hess, due for publication in spring 2025. Jessica read music at Cambridge and lives in London with her violinist husband.