Composer. A major musical figure of late 19th Century Vienna, he produced some pieces which remain in the repertory. Born and raised in the small town of Keszthley where his father was Cantor, he began violin study at an early age. After two years at the music academy in Odensburg he went to Vienna for further training in 1844, though the political troubles of 1848 curtailed his education and resulted in him becoming a self-taught composer. Goldmark played in theatre orchestras to support himself and also taught privately, the future composer Jean Sibelius being one of his students. The poor reception of an 1858 solo concert resulted in a return to Budapest from 1858 to 1860, though his reappearance in Vienna was marked by success as both composer and critic. Unusually for a journalist of his time he tried to avoid playing favorites between competing factions, as for example when he kept an even course between fans of Brahams and Wagner. Influenced by forces as diverse as Hungarian folk music and Wagnerian opera he composed pieces of differing types, his most lasting probably being the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 28, the opera "The Queen of Sheba" which had its Vienna world premiere on March 10, 1875, with Amalie Materna in the title role, and the 1876 "Rustic Wedding Symphony". Goldmark helped found the Vienna Wagner Society in 1872, though whether he and the anti-Semite Wagner could have been "friends" is problematic. The recipient of a number of honors, he remained productive at an advanced age as evidenced by the good reception of his 1908 Shakespeare-themed opera "A Winter's Tale". A number of his compositions have been recorded.
Composer. A major musical figure of late 19th Century Vienna, he produced some pieces which remain in the repertory. Born and raised in the small town of Keszthley where his father was Cantor, he began violin study at an early age. After two years at the music academy in Odensburg he went to Vienna for further training in 1844, though the political troubles of 1848 curtailed his education and resulted in him becoming a self-taught composer. Goldmark played in theatre orchestras to support himself and also taught privately, the future composer Jean Sibelius being one of his students. The poor reception of an 1858 solo concert resulted in a return to Budapest from 1858 to 1860, though his reappearance in Vienna was marked by success as both composer and critic. Unusually for a journalist of his time he tried to avoid playing favorites between competing factions, as for example when he kept an even course between fans of Brahams and Wagner. Influenced by forces as diverse as Hungarian folk music and Wagnerian opera he composed pieces of differing types, his most lasting probably being the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 28, the opera "The Queen of Sheba" which had its Vienna world premiere on March 10, 1875, with Amalie Materna in the title role, and the 1876 "Rustic Wedding Symphony". Goldmark helped found the Vienna Wagner Society in 1872, though whether he and the anti-Semite Wagner could have been "friends" is problematic. The recipient of a number of honors, he remained productive at an advanced age as evidenced by the good reception of his 1908 Shakespeare-themed opera "A Winter's Tale". A number of his compositions have been recorded.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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See more Goldmark memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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