The Composer

According to Theodor W. Adorno, Hanns Eisler is "the real representative of the young generation of Schönberg’s pupils and, moreover, one of the most talented of all young composers." Son of philosopher Rudolf Eisler, Hanns was born on 6 July 1898 in Leipzig and moved as a child to Vienna. From 1919 to 1923 he was a pupil of Schönberg.

Eisler’s compositional voice was already discernible in his prize-winning Piano Sonata op. 1 and in the many-facetted Piano Pieces op. 3. From 1925 onwards, in Berlin, it manifested itself clearly in the unmistakable coutours of his oeuvre. In his song cycle Zeitungs-Ausschnitte op. 11 (Newspaper clippings) composed there, he combined the [...]