Alexander von Zemlinsky

The Profile

Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher whose luxuriant late-Romantic style bridged into early modernism. Celebrated for the Lyric Symphony, the operas Der Zwerg and Eine Florentinische Tragödie, and the orchestral fantasy Die Seejungfrau.

Born 1871 in Vienna; died 1942 in New York. His Lyric Symphony sets German translations of poems by Rabindranath Tagore.

A single, glowing review celebrates Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony as an opulent, late-Romantic arc of desire and release. Tagore’s verses drive a dialogue for soprano and baritone across shifting orchestral colors, from mystical hush to violent climaxes. The piece closes in serene acceptance, where memory and love blur into music.