Hanns Jelinek

Hanns Jelinek
Born	Johannes Jelinek 5 December 1901 Vienna, Austria
Died	27 January 1969 Vienna
Nationality	Austrian
Occupation	Composer
Known for	Composing music

Hanns Jelinek(5 December 1901 – 27 January 1969) was anAustriancomposerofCzechdescent who is also known under thepseudonymsHanns Elin,H. J. Hirsch,Jakob Fidelbogen.

Biography

Jelinek was born and died inVienna.His father was a machine operator (died 1917). At the age of 6 he began violin lessons and at age 7, began learning the piano. In 1918 he became a member of the newly foundedCommunist Party of Austria.

In 1918–19 Jelinek studied briefly withArnold Schoenbergin the composition seminar which Schoenberg gave atEugenie Schwarzwald's School in Vienna (with a focus on counterpoint and harmony),and privately withAlban Berg.These two influenced him to write many works in thetwelve-tone technique.In 1920 he started the study withFranz Schmidtat theVienna Academy of Music.However, in 1922 he broke off his studies for financial reasons, and thereafter studied music on his own.

In order to support himself as a self-employed composer in Vienna, he appeared as a pianist in bars and cinemas and composed popular music under the pseudonymHanns Elin.

From 1958 on, he was a lecturer and, after 1965, a professor at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1966, he was awarded theGrand Austrian State Prize.

Compositions

Since 1934 (starting with hisSecond String Quartetop. 13) he used the twelve-tone technique in all of the works to which he gave an opus number. In 1956 in hisThree Blue Sketchesop. 25 he combineddodecaphonywithjazz.

Pupils

For Jelinek's notable students, seeList of music students by teacher: G to J § Hanns Jelinek.

Among his pupils were:Petr Kotík,Gunnar Sonstevold,Maj Sønstevold,Igor Štuhec,Erich Urbanner,Junsang Bahk,Anne-Marie Ørbeck,Gregory Rose,Dawid EngelaandHeinz Karl Gruber.Khosrow Sinai,future Iranian filmmaker, andAlireza Mashayekhi,one of the most important representatives of new music in Persia (Iran), studied under Jelinekfor a while.

Selected works

• Compositions
  • 13 kleine Lieder (13 Little Songs)for voice and Piano op. 1 (1927)
  • Präludium, Passacaglia und Fugefor chamber orchestra op. 4 (1922)
  • 3 Chansonsafter the texts byErich Kästner(1930)
  • 1st String Quartetop. 10 (1931)
  • Suitefor string orchestra op. 11 (1931)
  • Sinfonia concertante (Symphony No. 4)for string quartet and big orchestra op. 12 (1931)
  • 2nd String Quartetop. 13 (1934–35)
  • Bubi Caligulaoperetta (1947–53)
  • Zwölftonwerkop. 15 (1947–52)
  • Sinfonia brevisop. 16 (1948–50)
  • Concertinofor strings op. 17 (1951)
  • Phantasiefor clarinet, piano and orchestra op. 18 (1951)
  • Zwölftonfibel (Twelve-Tone Alphabet Book)for piano op. 21 (1953–54)
  • Sinfonia concertante (Symphony No. 6)op. 22 (1953)
  • Selbstbildnis des Marc Aurel (Self-Portrait of Marcus Aurelius)for speaker and four instrumental soloists op. 24 (1954)
  • Sonatafor violin op. 27 (1956)
  • Unterwegs (On The Way): Cantata on the lyrics by Franz Kiesslingfor soprano, vibraphone and double bass. op. 28 (1957)
  • Four Songson the lyrics by Franz Kiessling for middle voice and piano op. 29 (1957)
  • The Dances Around the Steel Blue Roseballet (1956–59)
  • Canon nuptialefor mixed choir (1959)
  • Zehn zahme Xenien (Ten Tame Xenias)for violine and piano op. 32 (1960)
  • Rai Bubaétude for piano and big orchestra op. 34 (1962)
• Writings
  • Musikalisches Hexeneinmaleins,in: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift, 6. Jg., 1951
  • Anleitung zur Zwölftonkomposition nebst allerlei Paralipomena(2 volumes), Vienna, 1952
  • Die krebsgleichen Allintervallreihen,inArchiv für Musikwissenschaft,18. Jg., 1961
  • Musik in Film und Fernsehen,in: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift, 23. Jg., 1968

Films

• Love is Duty Free(1941)
• The Queen of the Landstrasse(1948)
• Lambert Feels Threatened(1949)