Alexander Zemlinsky: A Lyric Symphony (review)

Abstract

Alexander Zemlinsky: A Lyric Sym - phony. By Marc D. Moskovitz. After - word by James Conlon. Wood bridge, U.K.: Boydell Press, 2010. [xx, 385 p. ISBN 9781843835783. $45.] Chronol - ogy, photographs, works list, discography, bibliography. Nineteenth-century music enthusiasts should be excited when a new volume appears on a composer whose works lie just outside of canon, but ought to be included it. Enter Marc Moskovitz's biography of Alexander Zemlinsky, a composer who has long been treated by musicloving at large as thrillingly close to, but never equaling, prominent Viennese personalities like Mahler, Strauss, and Schoen berg. Although Zemlinsky's works, fallen from concert programs when World War II swept through Vienna, have since experienced a renewal of interest, they have never achieved kind of recognition or widespread following that they deserve. Thence derives Moskovitz's inspiration for undertaking this critical study: How has a composer this gifted remained so obscure? (p. xiii). The answer lies, perhaps, composer's overt refusal to align with modernist movement when it became clear that future of art music lay that direction; or perhaps composer failed to achieve monumental status because his music shows clear influences of other composers' styles, both points that author makes well. More likely, Zemlinsky's unassuming personality made him more suited to a private life, failing to take full advantage of his connections, avoiding limelight-in other words, doomed always to be mentioned only in context of more famous contemporary figures, an injustice that Moskovitz seeks to correct (p. xiii). From outset, even on dust jacket, Moskovitz makes it clear that his biography was not written with academics mind. Fearing that musicologists would compare this work to Antony Beaumont's biography of composer (Zemlinsky [Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000]), author calls this volume, contrast, the work that welcome[s] non-academic into Zem - linsky's world (p. xiv). However, one should not fall under impression that A Lyric Symphony has nothing to offer serious scholars: there is room for more than one biography of composer on market, and there is much that one would find interesting Moskovitz's narrative, presented clear and accessible language. With no weighty endnotes or lengthy digressions to bog down text, this book would make as enjoyable (and quick) a read for academics wishing to augment their knowledge of Zemlinsky's contribution to Viennese tradition as it would for its intended audience. Throughout his career Zemlinsky was plagued by critical reviews comparing his work to that of his contemporaries, finding that it was too similar, and moreover, of inferior quality. It is true that his early works share stylistic similarities with Brahms and occasionally Wagner, and that certain later compositions (the Second String Quartet, Lyric Symphony) can be compared to similar works by Schoenberg and Mahler respectively. But while Zemlinsky often struggled to find a unique personal voice among his more famous contemporaries, this itself does not make these works derivative or of lesser value. Throughout A Lyric Symphony, Moskovitz seems to imply, but not directly state, that many of Zem - linsky's compositions are stylistically similar to those of whoever of his circle was vogue at moment. At same time, however, he points out what makes them distinct-and does a good job of being honest, rather than idealizing his subject. In process, we are provided with a retrospective view of a composer whose artistic ideals were conflict with emerging avant-garde trends music that would soon envelop him, and whose works were often undervalued for conforming to conservatory rules and traditions that composer so greatly respected. Through Moskovitz's account emerges portrait of a composer who was always humble, always modest, never extravagant; who toiled selflessly to promote and perform others' works while his own were subjected to harsh reviews. …