{{Short description|British composer (1911–1968)}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} thumb|Franz Reizenstein '''Franz Theodor Reizenstein''' (7 June 1911{{spaced ndash}}15 October 1968) was a German-born British composer and concert pianist. He left Germany for sanctuary in Britain in 1934 and went on to have his teaching and performing career there. As a composer, he successfully blended the equally strong but very different influences of his primary teachers, Hindemith and Vaughan Williams.
==Life== Franz Reizenstein's parents were the well-known physician Dr. Albert Reizenstein (1871–1925) and his wife Lina Kohn (born 1880), both of Nuremberg, Germany. The family was Jewish and counted many professionals, scientists, bankers, and musically inclined people among its members.
Reizenstein grew up in Nuremberg and was considered a child prodigy. He composed his first pieces when he was 5, and by the age of 17 he had written a string quartet. His well-to-do and artistic family encouraged him to play chamber music at home. Eventually he was sent to study composition under Paul Hindemith and piano under Leonid Kreutzer at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik.<ref name=grove>[https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000023169 Cole, Hugo. 'Franz Reizenstein' in ''Grove Music Online'']</ref> Hindemith's composition class also included Harald Genzmer, Oskar Sala and Arnold Cooke. Reizenstein remained a lifelong friend of Cooke and kept his Piano Concerto (1940) in his repertoire.<ref name=eda/> He was awarded the Bechstein Prize for piano playing in 1932, graduating a year later.<ref name=palm>Palmer, Russell. ''British Music'' (1947), pp. 201-202</ref>
In 1934 he emigrated to England at the age of 23 to escape the Nazis, one of the first of nearly 70 émigré musicians from Nazi Europe to do so between 1933 and 1945.<ref name=haas>[https://www.jmi.org.uk/archive/suppressedmusic/composers.html Michael Haas, "The Emigré Composers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222234416/https://www.jmi.org.uk/archive/suppressedmusic/composers.html |date=22 February 2020 }} Jewish Music Institute, University of London, 2004</ref> Once in England, he furthered his studies under Ralph Vaughan Williams for composition and Constant Lambert for conducting at the Royal College of Music, and began to incorporate English musical influences into his works. He also studied the piano for eleven years with Solomon Cutner, and took a course of conducting under Felix Weingartner in Basel.<ref name=palm/>
During the 1930s Reizenstein performed as a pianist, making his first public appearance in the UK in April 1935 at the Grotrian Hall. He was the first to perform Hindemith's three piano sonatas of 1936 in the UK, on Wednesday 1 June 1938 at the Wigmore Hall.<ref>''The Times'', 30 May 1938, p 12</ref> He also played with the violinist Carl Flesch.<ref name=wyn/><ref name=rcm/> With the violinist Maria Lidka and the cellist Christopher Bunting he formed the Reizenstein Trio, and he also performed with two émigré violinists, Max Rostal and Erich Gruenberg.<ref name=eda/>
Reizenstein published his first piece, the Suite for Piano, Op. 6, in 1936. He gained more attention with the "virtuosic and flamboyant" ''Prologue, Variations and Finale'', Op. 12, composed two years later for Max Rostal.<ref name=wyn/> Its South American rhythms (in the finale) were inspired by an extended tour which he took to Chile and Argentina in 1937, undertaken with another legendary violinist, Roman Totenberg.
At the start of World War II, Reizenstein, as a German, was interned in Central Camp in Douglas, Isle of Man. He continued to compose while within the camp although he was soon released, along with the other internees who did not pose a threat to the British.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yf_FqhgIcq0C&dq=%22Egon+Wellesz%22+%22Isle+of+Man%22&pg=PT42 ''Cultural Heritage and Prisoners of War: Creativity Behind Barbed Wire''], edited by Gilly Carr and Harold Mytum</ref> Unfit for active service, he worked as a train conductor during the war, while continuing his composition and performance work.<ref name=eda>Kolja Lessing. [http://www.eda-records.com/177-1-CD-Details.html?cd_id=49 Notes to ''Franz Reizenstein: Solo Sonatas''], EDA 20 (2002)</ref> He married his wife Margaret Lawson, an English music critic, in 1942, and they had a son, John Reizenstein.<ref name=rcm>[https://www.rcm.ac.uk/singingasong/featuredmusicians/franzreizenstein/ Biography, Royal College of Music]</ref> They lived at 34, Hollycroft Avenue, London NW3.<ref>Norris, Gerald. ''A Musical Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1981), p 75</ref> That year he gave the first public performance of his Piano Concerto No 1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult.<ref name=palm/>
In 1958 he became a professor (of piano, not composition) at the Royal Academy of Music and (in 1964) the Royal Manchester College of Music. Amongst his pupils at the academy was Philip Martin whom he taught piano and also composition. His academic credentials in composition were finally officially recognised when in 1966 he was appointed visiting professor of composition at Boston University for six months, where there were also special concerts given of his works.<ref name=wyn>[http://orelfoundation.org/index.php/composers/article/franz_reizenstein/ Simon Wynberg, "Franz Reizenstein biography"], The OREL Foundation</ref>
Through his mother's Kohn family, Reizenstein was related to the writer Catherine Yronwode.
==Music== Like fellow émigré composer Hans Gál, Reizenstein rejected the serial procedures followed by many of his contemporaries and adopted a tonal, expressive style influenced by Vaughan Williams and the English lyrical tradition, tempered with the objectivity and contrapuntal complexity of Hindemith.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NpeRAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Let%27s+Fake+an+Opera%22+%22Mann%22+%22Reizenstein%22&pg=PA212 Gordon, David and Gordon, Peter. ''Musical Visitors to Britain'' (Routledge, 2005), p 212]</ref>
Hugo Cole divided his work into three periods: the first (1936–1945) emphasising motivic development, rhythmic energy and fugal counterpoint; the second (1947–1959) introducing more elegiac and expressive material; and the third (1960–1968) a late style more genial and relaxed, with freer thematic development and transformation.<ref name=grove/> In the first period are the early Piano Concerto and Piano Sonata No 1. In the second are the Scherzo, Op. 21, the Piano Quintet, the 12 Preludes and Fugues and the Second Piano Concerto. The late period includes the three solo string sonatas, the ''Elizabeth Browning Sonnets'' and his final work, the Concerto for String Orchestra, which received its premiere a year after his death.<ref name=wyn/>
He composed a number of orchestral works including overtures (such as ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', performed at the BBC Proms on 30 August 1957)<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eh8dgw Prom 36, 30 August 1957, BBC Proms performance archive]</ref> and concertos (such as the two Piano Concertos, the late Concerto for String Orchestra, a Violin Concerto and a Cello Concerto). A symphony remained unfinished at his death.<ref name=grove/>
The chamber and piano works are particularly highly regarded, the best known of these is the Piano Quintet in D major, Op. 23 (1949) of which the critic Lionel Salter wrote in ''Gramophone'' in July 1975: It "stands alongside Shostakovich's as the most noteworthy of this century's piano quintets."<ref name=haas/> The Violin Sonata (1945) was dedicated to Maria Lidka, who performed it at the premiere in January 1946. That was followed by the Viola Sonata (1946), written for Watson Forbes, who performed it the same year in Cambridge.<ref>[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/b6a87c80b8b94ba28aa9b8cf64e4d012 ''Radio Times,'' Issue 1259, 30 November 1947, p 24]</ref> The 12 Preludes and Fugues, heavily influenced by Hindemith's ''Ludus Tonalis'', display Reizenstein's personal harmonic idiom (heavy with 4ths and semitones) and feature pairs of preludes and fugues that are closely related thematically.<ref name=grove/>
The cantata ''Voices of Night'' (1950–51) represented, according to John Weissmann, "the complete maturity of [his] recently assimilated musical idiom...this cantata places him at a single stroke in the English choral tradition".<ref>Weissmann, John. 'The Music of Franz Reizenstein' in ''The Listener'', Issue 1215, 12 June 1952</ref> He also wrote two operas, ''Men Against the Sea'' (1949) and ''Anna Kraus'' (1952), and composed lavish orchestral scores for the Hammer horror film ''The Mummy'' (1959) and the cult British horror film ''Circus of Horrors'' (1960).
Commercially available recordings include the piano music played by Martin Jones (Lyrita SRCD.2342, 2014),<ref>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Nov14/Reizenstein_piano_SRCD2342.htm Reviewed at MusicWeb International]</ref> the Piano Concerto No 2 and Serenade in F with Oliver Triendl and the Nürnberger Symphoniker (CPO 555245-2, 2019),<ref>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Oct/Reizenstein_PC2_5552452.html Reviewed at MusicWeb International]</ref> the Cello Concerto, played by Raphael Wallfisch,<ref name=cello/> and the Violin Sonata, op 20, played by Louisa Stonehill and Nicholas Burns (Lyrita SRCD.360, 2017).<ref>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2017/May/Reizenstein_violin_SRCD360.htm Reviewed at MusicWeb International]</ref> He recorded some of his own works, including the Piano Sonata, for the Lyrita record label in 1958.<ref>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/oct08/Bowen_Ream2105.htm ''Composers at the Piano - Bowen and Reizenstein, Lyrita Ream 2105'']</ref>
===Hoffnung Festivals=== Reizenstein contributed the ''Concerto Popolare'' ("A piano concerto to end all piano concertos") to Gerard Hoffnung's first music festival in 1956. Hoffnung's festivals were comedy events, trading on the musical knowledge of the audience. The premise of the ''Concerto Popolare'' is that the orchestra believes it is playing Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, but the pianist believes he or she is playing the Grieg Piano Concerto. A pitched musical battle ensues, dragging in other themes (notably from ''Rhapsody in Blue'', the ''Warsaw Concerto'' and the song "Roll Out the Barrel"). The soloist at the premiere was Yvonne Arnaud (otherwise a renowned actress), who had been chosen after Hoffnung's first choice, Eileen Joyce, declined.
At the 1958 Hoffnung Festival he contributed (with William Mann) ''Let's Fake an Opera or The Tales of Hoffnung'' <ref name=HMF>''Hoffnung's Music Festivals'', CD reissue, liner notes, EMI Records No. CMS 7633022, 1989</ref> Mann's libretto consisted of "ridiculously juxtaposed excerpts from more than forty operas, which delighted both Reizenstein and the audience".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NpeRAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Let%27s+Fake+an+Opera%22+%22Mann%22+%22Reizenstein%22&pg=PA212 Hoffnung, A. ''Gerard Hoffnung'' (Garden Press, 1988), p 156]</ref> Daniel Snowman called it "an insane collage of opera plots and themes".<ref>Snowman, Daniel. ''The Hitler Emigrés'' (2002) p 345</ref>
Also popular was his set of ''Variations on The Lambeth Walk'' (a popular song of the 1930s), for solo piano, each variation being a parody of the style of a major classical composer. The composers parodied are Chopin, Verdi, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Wagner and Liszt.<ref>[https://www.wyastone.co.uk/franz-reizenstein-variations-on-the-lambeth-walk-for-solo-piano.html Reizenstein: ''Variations on 'The Lambeth Walk' for Solo Piano'' Nimbus Music Publishing, 2018]</ref>
==Selected works== {{columns-list|colwidth=35em|
'''Orchestral and Concertante''' * 1934 - Allegro Sinfonica for orchestra * 1936 - Cello Concerto (revised 1948, premiere 1951)<ref name=cello>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Feb/Reizenstein_Goldschmidt_5551092.htm CPO 555 109-2, reviewed at ''MusicWeb International'']</ref> * 1938 - ''Capriccio'' for orchestra * 1940 - Ballet Suite * 1941 - Piano Concerto No.1 in G major * 1951 - ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', overture * 1951 - ''A Jolly Overture'' for orchestra<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ16aLowe-A ''A Jolly Overture'', BBC Midland Orchestra conducted by Leo Wurmser, radio broadcast]</ref> * 1953 - Serenade in F major for small orchestra * 1953 - Violin Concerto in G major, Op. 31<ref>{{OCLC|743223023}}</ref><ref>[https://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/score/concerto-violin-and-orchestra-54 British Music Collection Page for the Violin Concerto]</ref> * 1954 - Prologue, Variations and Finale for violin and orchestra * 1956 - ''Concerto Popolare'' * 1961 - Piano Concerto No.2 in F major * 1967 - Concerto for String Orchestra
'''Choral and Operatic''' * 1949 - ''Men Against the Sea'', opera * 1950 - ''Voices of Night'', cantata * 1952 - ''Anna Kraus'', opera * 1958 - ''Genesis'', oratorio * 1959 - ''Five Sonnets of Elizabeth Barrett Browning''
'''Chamber''' * 1931 - Theme, Variations & Fugue for clarinet & string quartet (rev. 1960) * 1931 - Cello Sonata * 1933 - Wind Quintet * 1938 - Divertimento for brass quartet * 1939 - Divertimento for string quartet * 1949 - Piano Quintet * 1949 - Trio in A major for flute, oboe & piano * 1951 - Serenade in F major for wind * 1957 - Piano Trio in One Movement * 1963 - Trio for flute, clarinet & bassoon
'''Instrumental''' * 1932 - Variations for flute and piano * 1936 - Three Pieces for violin and piano * 1937 - Three Concert Pieces for oboe and piano * 1937 - ''Elegy'' for cello and piano * 1938 - Prologue, Variations and Finale for violin and piano * 1938 - Sonatina for oboe & piano * 1938 - Three Concert Pieces for oboe and piano * 1939 - Partita for flute (or treble recorder) and piano * 1942 - ''Cantilene'' for cello & piano * 1945 - Violin Sonata in G sharp major, op 20 * 1946 - Viola Sonata * 1947 - Cello Sonata in A major * 1947 - ''Elegy'' for cello & piano * 1956 -''Fantasia Concertante'' for violin and piano * 1963 - Duo for oboe & clarinet * 1966 - Concert Fantasy for viola and piano * 1967 - Sonata for solo viola * 1968 - Sonata for solo violin * 1968 - Sonata for solo cello * 1968 - Sonatina in B flat major for clarinet and piano
'''Solo Piano''' * 1932 - Fantasy * 1934 - ''Four Silhouettes'' * 1937 - Suite for piano * 1939 - Impromptu * 1940 - Intermezzo * 1945 - ''Legend'' * 1945 - Piano Sonata No.1 in B major * 1947 - Scherzo in A major * 1950 - ''Scherzo Fantastique'' * 1952 - ''Musical Box'' * 1955 - Twelve Preludes & Fugues * 1964 - Piano Sonata No.2 in A flat major * 1965 - ''Zodiac'' suite for piano
'''Film Scores''' * 1953 - ''The House that Jack Built'' * 1953 - ''The Sea'' * 1955 - ''Island of Steel''<ref>[http://colonialfilm.org.uk/node/4681 Colonial Film. ''Island of Steel'']</ref> * 1959 - ''Jessy''<ref>[https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/WgwxwyEAALQf2Ukf Wellcome Foundation. ''Jessy'']</ref> * 1959 - ''The Mummy'' * 1959 - ''The White Trap'' * 1960 - ''Circus of Horrors'' * 1964 - ''The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'' }}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.franzreizenstein.com Franz Reizenstein online archive] * [http://www.complete-music.co.uk/writers/midlengnickreizenstein.htm Franz Reizenstein biography] * [http://orelfoundation.org/composers/works/franz_reizenstein List of compositions with dates and links to albums at Orel Foundation] * {{IMDb name|id=0718715}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reizenstein, Franz}} Category:20th-century British classical composers Category:British opera composers Category:British male opera composers Category:British film score composers Category:British male film score composers Category:German classical composers Category:German male classical composers Category:German opera composers Category:German film score composers Category:Jewish classical composers Category:Jewish classical pianists Category:Child classical musicians Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:Musicians from Nuremberg Category:People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II Category:1911 births Category:1968 deaths Category:Pupils of Paul Hindemith Category:Pupils of Ralph Vaughan Williams Category:20th-century British classical pianists Category:20th-century British musicians Category:Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Category:German classical pianists Category:British male classical pianists Category:20th-century British male musicians