(b Vienna, 7 Dec 1887; d Santa Monica, 1 Oct 1964). Austrian composer, naturalized American. Self-taught, he had a notable teaching career in Mannheim (1913-29), Berlin (1929-32) and the USA, where he settled in 1934 (naturalized 1940). In Berlin he took part in modernist activities (Gesprochene Musik for speaking chorus, 1930), but most of his music is neo-classical, tonal and in traditional forms. He was primarily a chamber-music composer: his output includes 13 string quartets (the first five are lost); he also wrote seven symphonies (1950-64), piano concertos, vocal and piano pieces and film scores. His strong personal philosophy and its relationship to music is expressed in several of his writings.
The young Ernst Toch was almost entirely self-taught as a musician; his earliest compositional efforts involved copying out Mozart's string quartets, which in turn served as models for his own essays in the genre. Despite his evident promise, however, Toch's formal education was at first directed toward medicine; soon, however, he devoted his energies to musical studies. Toch went to Frankfurt in 1909, where he undertook formal training in both piano (with Willy Rehberg) and composition (with Iwan Knorr). In 1910, he won the Berlin Mendelssohn Prize for composition; three years later, he was appointed teacher of composition at the Mannheim Musikhochschule. Toch retained this post (interrupted by a wartime stint in the Austrian army) until 1929, when he moved to Berlin and actively pursued a career as composer and pianist. During this time he wrote several choral and dramatic works; among the most striking of these is the "Geographical Fugue" from Gesprochene Musik, which employs a contrapuntal, purely spoken treatment of the names of various exotic locales.
Following the example of many of his countrymen, Toch fled Germany in 1933 as the Nazi party continued its ascent. After spending time in Paris and London, Toch emigrated to America in 1935, where he took up a teaching post at the New School for Social Research in New York. He eventually embraced his new home, becoming a US citizen in 1940.
Beginning in 1936, Toch taught at the University of Southern California. His inventive, colorful musical sense and proximity to Hollywood led to a lucrative side career as a composer of film music; his scores for Peter Ibbetson (1935) and Address Unknown (1943) were nominated for Academy Awards. He was similarly honored for his "legitimate" endeavors, winning the 1956 Pulitzer Prize in music for his Third Symphony. ~ Corie Stanton Root, All Music Guide
Toch, born in Vienna in the family of a humble Jewish leather dealer [1] when the city was at its 19th-century cultural zenith, sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music. He studied philosophy at the university of Vienna, medicine at Heidelberg and music at the Hoch Conservatory (1909-1913) in Frankfurt.[2] His main instrument was the piano, and he was a pianist of real stature, performing to acclaim throughout much of western Europe. Much of his writing was intended for the piano.
Toch continued to grow as an artist and composer throughout his adult life, and in America came to influence whole new generations of composers. His first compositions date from circa 1900 and were pastiches in the style of Mozart (quartets, 1905 album verses for piano). His first quartet was performed in Leipzig in 1908, and his sixth (Opus 12, 1905) in the year 1909. In 1909, his chamber symphony in F major (written 1906) won the Frankfurt/Main Mozart prize. From this time onwards Toch dedicated himself to being a full-time composer. He won the Mendelssohn prize for composition in 1910. In 1913 he was appointed lecturer of both piano and composition at the College of Music in Mannheim. After winning a further five major prizes for his works, Toch served 4 years in the army on the Italian Front. In 1916 he married Lilly Zwack, the daughter of a banker.
After World War I had ended, he returned to Mannheim to compose, developing a new style of polyphony. He received his Ph.D. degree from Heidelberg University in 1921.
This period lasted from 1934 to 1958. His works often exhibit a humorous aspect (Bunte Suite (1929)). In 1930 he invented "Gesprochene Musik," the idiom of the "spoken chorus"; his most performed work is the Geographical Fugue or Fuge aus der Geographie, though he regarded it as an unimportant diversion. He wrote music for films, symphonies, chamber music, chamber operas. He also wrote books dealing with musical theory: Melodielehre (1923) and The Shaping Forces in Music (1948).
Toch was considered one of the great avant-garde composers in the pre-Nazi era, and, like many other such artists and musicians, went into exile when Hitler came to power.
Tanz-und-Spielstücke (Pieces for Dancing and Playing), Op. 40 (c. 1926) (pub. 1927)
Sonata for Piano, Op. 47 (1928) (pub. 1928)
Kleinstadtbilder (Echoes From a Small Town), 14 Moderately Easy Piano Pieces, Op. 49 (1929) (pub. 1929)
5 × 10 Etudes, Op. 55-59 (1931) (pub. 1931)
Profiles, Op. 68 (1946) (pub. 1948)
Ideas, Op. 69 (1946) (pub. 1947)
Diversions, Op. 78a (1956) (pub. 1958)
Sonatinetta, Op. 78b (1956) (pub. 1958)
(Untitled canon) (1959) (Unpublished)
Three Little Dances, Op. 85 (1961) (pub. 1962)
Reflections, Op. 86 (1962) (pub. 1962)
Sonata for Piano Four-Hands, Op. 87 (1962) (pub. 1963)
Other Solo Instrumental Works
Three Original Pieces for the Electric Welte-Mignon Piano (1926) (Unpublished)
Studie, for mechanical organ (1927) (Unpublished)
Two Etudes for Violoncello Solo (1930) (pub. 1931)
Opera
Die Prinzessin auf der Erbse [The Princess and the Pea], Op. 43 (1927) (pub. 1927)
Musical fairy tale in one act; text after H. C. Andersen by Benno Elkan; English and German versions exist
Egon und Emilie [Edgar and Emily], Op. 46 (c. 1928) (pub. 1938)
Chamber opera in one act; "Not a family drama" (Kein Familiendrama); text by Christian Morgenstern; English and German versions exist
Der Fächer [The Fan], Op. 51 (1929 or 1930) (pub. 1930)
Opera-capriccio in three acts; text by Ferdinand Lion. Der Fächer was rediscovered and produced for the first time since the 1930s by the Bielefeld Opera conducted by Geoffrey Moull in 1995.[3]
Scheherazade: The Last Tale [Das letzte Märchen], Op. 88 (1962) (pub. 1965)
Opera in one act; text by Melchior Lengyel, English translation by Cornel Lengyel[4]
Choral Works
An mein Vaterland (To My Fatherland), Op.23 (1913) (Unpublished)
for large orchestra, organ, solo soprano, mixed chorus & boys’ chorus
Gesprochene Musik (Speaking Music), (1930). Only No. 1 of 3 published:
Geographical Fugue, for speaking chorus (1930) (pub. 1950) No. 1 of 3 from Gesprochene Musik
Der Tierkreis (The Zodiac), for women’s chorus (1930) (Nos. 1 & 2 pub. 1930; No. 3 unpublished)
Das Wasser (The Water), Cantata after a text by A. Döblin, Op. 53 (1930) (pub. 1930)
for tenor, baritone, narrator, chorus, flute, trumpet, percussion & strings
Cantata of the Bitter Herbs, Op. 65 (1938) (pub.?)
for solo soprano, alto, tenor & baritone, narrator, chorus & orchestra
Ich wollt, ich wär ein fisch (I wish I were a fish), for high voice & piano (1920) (Unpublished)
Die Chinesische Flöte (The Chinese Flute), Op. 29 (1922) (pub. 1923)
for soprano, 2 flutes, clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion, celesta & strings. Exists in German and English versions
Nine Songs for Soprano and Piano, Op. 41 (1926) (pub. 1928). Exists in German and English versions
Music for Orchestra and Baritone, Op. 60 (1931) (pub. 1932)
Chansons sans paroles, for voice and piano (1940) (Unpublished)
Poems to Martha, for medium voice & string quartet (1942) (pub. 1943)
There Is a Season for Everything, for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, violin & cello (c. 1953) (pub. 1953)
Vanity of Vanities, for soprano, tenor, flute, clarinet, violin, viola & cello (1954) (pub.?)
Lange schon haben meine Freunde versucht (My friends have long tried), for soprano & baritone (1958) (Unpublished)
Incidental Music
Der Kinder Neujahrstraum (The Children’s New Year’s Dream) (stage play), Op. 19, for solo soprano, alto, tenor & baritone, chorus & orchestra (1910)
Im fernen Osten (In the Far East) (radio play), for flute, 2 trumpets in C, mandolin, guitar, 2 violins, viola, cello, percussion, chorus & male solo voice (1931)
Die Heilige von U.S.A. (The Saint of the U.S.A.) (stage play), for wind ensemble, percussion, piano, harmonium, alto solo & chorus (1931)
König Ödipus (Oedipus rex) (radio play), for 2 clarinets, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, percussion & strings (1931)
Jezic, Diane Peacock. "Toch Worklist Compiled by Alyson McLamore". The Musical Migration and Ernst Toch. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press. pp. 165–171. ISBN0-8138-0322-5.
Jung, Hermann (editor). Spurensicherung: Der Komponist Ernst Toch (1887–1964) — Mannheimer Emigrantenschicksale. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. ISBN978-3-631-57400-3.
Endnotes
^ Introduction to the Dover edition, The Shaping Forces in Music, Ernst Toch, Dover Publications, 1977.
^ Peter Cahn: Das Hoch'sche Konservatorium in Frankfurt am Main (1878-1978), Frankfurt am Main: Kramer, 1979
^ Theater in Bielefeld 1975-1998, Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, Redaktion Heidi Wiese, Heiner Bruns, Alexander Gruber, Fritz Stockmeier 1998, ISBN 3-933040-03-5
^ Toch, Ernst: "The Shaping Forces in Music", pg. 240-257, Dover Publications, Inc., 1977, Library of Congress: 76-9950, Checklist of Compositions by Lawrence Weschler
