Gottfried von Einem

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gottfried von Einem (January 24, 1918 – July 12, 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by Stravinsky, Prokofiev and jazz.

He was born in Bern, Switzerland as the son of an Austrian diplomat family.

After his school days he went to Berlin, where he studied with Boris Blacher and became répétiteur at the Berliner Philharmoniker.

In 1953 he moved back to Vienna. In 1966 von Einem married his librettist, the renowned Austrian playwright and author Lotte Ingrisch.

Apart from Vienna, the couple spent much of their time in the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria state (Oberdürnbach and Rindlberg/Großpertholz) - a rather untouched region that clearly inspired not only his own work, but especially the literature of his wife.

The highly acclaimed composer died in Vienna 1996.

In 2002, Gottfried von Einem was awarded - posthumously - the title "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem

The son of his first marriage, Caspar Einem, a former Austrian cabinet minister, is presently a member of the Austrian parliament on the SPÖ (social democrats) bench.