Erwin Schulhoff

The Profile

Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942) was a Czech composer and pianist whose music fused neoclassicism, jazz, and avant‑garde currents. A notable interwar modernist linked to Dada circles, he wrote the opera Flammen and influential chamber, orchestral, and piano works. Arrested by the Nazis, he died in 1942 in the Wülzburg internment camp.

Czech composer and pianist, born in Prague in 1894; associated with Dada and interwar modernism; blended neoclassicism with jazz idioms. His opera Flammen premiered in Brno in 1932 and reimagines Don Giovanni. Notable works include Hot‑Sonate, Five Pieces for String Quartet, String Quartets Nos. 1–2, Piano Concertos Nos. 1–2, and Symphony No. 2. He was arrested by the Nazis in 1941 and died in Wülzburg in 1942.

One review hails Schulhoff’s opera Flammen as a masterpiece: a dark, sensual Don Giovanni reimagining. It emphasizes the blend of neoclassicism with jazz, its striking scenes, and its 1932 Brno premiere. The writing is fervent, focusing on love, death, and the work’s Freudian pulse. Overall sentiment: rapturous acclaim.