Korngold Father and Son in Vienna’s Prewar Public Eye

This chapter describes the early life of Erich Korngold. As a child, Korngold was a prodigy the likes of which had rarely been encountered before. He was not only an accomplished pianist but also a composer of preternaturally mature and astonishingly modern-sounding music. He was even called “the little Mozart.” In 1907, at the age of ten, Korngold began contrapuntal studies with Robert Fuchs, a venerable teacher at the Vienna Conservatory, and Alexander Zemlinsky (1871–1942). From there, Korngold embarked on his early musical career. The chapter also describes the reviews and criticisms of Korngold's work, as well as the controversies surrounding the boy and his growing fame, during this period.