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Quartets


First name: Gottfried von
Last name: Einem
Dates: 1918
Category: Quartet
Nationality: Austrian
Opus name: Opus 35a
Publisher:
Peculiarities: to order:www.worldwidemusic.com; a french horn replaces the cello
Information: Gottfried von Einem (born 24 January 1918 in Bern, died 12 July 1996 in Oberdornbach) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ. He was born in Bern, Switzerland, into an Austrian diplomat family. His father, William von Einem, was part of the Austrian military attache in Bern. After his school days he went to Berlin, where he studied with Boris Blacher and became a repetiteur for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Through Blacher, von Einem met his first wife, Lianne von Bismarck, whom he married in 1946. They had a son, Caspar Einem (born 1948). In 1953, the family moved back to Vienna. Lianne von Bismarck died in 1962. In 1966 von Einem married his librettist, the renowned Austrian playwright and author Lotte Ingrisch. Apart from Vienna, the couple spent much of their time in the Waldviertel of Lower Austria (specifically, at Oberdornbach and Rindlberg), a virtually pristine region that clearly inspired not only his own work, but also the literature of Ingrisch. The highly acclaimed composer died in Oberdornbach in 1996.