Erich Wolfgang Korngold

To me Korngold is one of music history's great what-ifs. A Viennese prodigy groomed for the concert hall, he was pushed toward Hollywood by history and ended up practically inventing the lush, surging language of the modern film score. I find it bittersweet: the man who wanted to be remembered as a serious composer earned his Oscar and his lasting fame writing for the screen. Listen to any sweeping adventure soundtrack today and you hear his fingerprints. I admire how he poured symphonic ambition into a medium that didn't yet take itself seriously, and quietly raised its ceiling forever.

Name (English)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Name (Japanese)

エーリヒ・ヴォルフガング・コルンゴルト

Reading

えーりひ・ゔぉるふがんぐ・こるんごると

Born

May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Rooster

Origin

Brno, South Moravian Region, Czech Republic

Occupation

classical composer / pianist / conductor / film score composer / librettist

University

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Awards & achievements

• 1939 Academy Award for Best Original Score

• Official sitehttps://korngold-society.org/site/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich%20Wolfgang%20Korngold
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A8%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AA%E3%83%92%E3%83%BB%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A9%E3%83%AB%E3%83%95%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AB%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B4%E3%83%AB%E3%83%88
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313371

Tags

• South Moravian Region
• classical composer
• pianist
• conductor

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.