Toch, Ernst

A native of Vienna, Toch emigrated to Great Britain in 1933 and shortly later to the U.S. After the war he stayed in Europe for a time and then returned to the U.S. in 1952. Lilly Toch (née Zwack) was Ernst's wife; they married in 1916. Ernst and Lilly appear to have been good friends of Alma Mahler.

Austrian composer, pianist, and teacher, naturalized American.

Suggested by Sir James Barrie's play. Commissioned by the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress for the Seattle Symphony. First performance Seattle, 13 February 1956, Seattle Symphony, Milton Katims conductor. Dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

Toch was born on Dec. 7, 1887 in Vienna; taught himself piano in his grandmother's pawnshop; learned musical notation from a local violinist, and copied Mozart's string quartets for practice; began to compose chamber music, and at age 17 had a quartet performed; in 1909 he won the prestigious Mozart Prize and a scholarship to study at the Frankfurt Conservatory, where he studied piano with Willy Rehberg and composition with Iwan Knorr; won the Mendelssohn Prize in 1910 and the Austrian State Prize four times in succession; in 1913 he was appointed teacher of composition at the Mannheim Musikhochschule; married Lilly Zwack in 1916; earned Dr. phil. degree in 1921; taught piano and composition in Berlin from 1929-33, leaving at the onset of the Nazi regime for Paris, London, and finally the US, where he taught at the New School for Social Research in New York (1934-36); taught at the Univ. of Southern CA (1937-48), afterward giving private instruction; lived in Vienna and Switzerland from 1950-58, then spent the remainder of his life in LA; won the Pulitzer and Huntington-Hartford Prizes for his Third Symphony (1956).

Was elected to the American National Institute of Arts and Letters (1956), received honorary citations from the German and Austrian governments, and won a Grammy Award (1960); publications include Melodielehre (1923) and The shaping forces in music (1948); his compositions encompass all genres and include Fuge aus der Geographie (1930), Seven symphonies, 13 string quartets, several chamber operas, and music for films; he died on Oct. 1, 1964 in LA.

Biographical Note

Ernst Toch was born on Dec. 7, 1887 in Vienna; taught himself piano in his grandmother's pawnshop; learned musical notation from a local violinist, and copied Mozart's string quartets for practice; began to compose chamber music, and at age 17 had a quartet performed; in 1909 he won the prestigious Mozart Prize and a scholarship to study at the Frankfurt Conservatory, where he studied piano with Willy Rehberg and composition with Iwan Knorr; won the Mendelssohn Prize in 1910 and the Austrian State Prize four times in succession; in 1913 he was appointed teacher of composition at the Mannheim Musikhochschule; married Lilly Zwack in 1916; earned Dr. phil. degree in 1921; taught piano and composition in Berlin from 1929-33, leaving at the onset of the Nazi regime for Paris, London, and finally the US, where he taught at the New School for Social Research in New York (1934-36); taught at the Univ. of Southern CA (1937-48), afterward giving private instruction; lived in Vienna and Switzerland from 1950-58, then spent the remainder of his life in LA; won the Pulitzer and Huntington-Hartford Prizes for his Third Symphony (1956), was elected to the American National Institute of Arts and Letters (1956), received honorary citations from the German and Austrian governments, and won a Grammy Award (1960); publications include Melodielehre (1923) and The shaping forces in music (1948); his compositions encompass all genres and include Fuge aus der Geographie (1930), Seven symphonies, 13 string quartets, several chamber operas, and music for films; he died on Oct. 1, 1964 in LA.