Franz Reizenstein
British composer Franz Theodor Reizenstein was born in Germany on 7 June 1911 and grew up in Nuremberg, beginning to compose from the age of five. Later he studied with Paul Hindemith at the Berliner Hochschule fur Musik. He was one of nearly seventy Jewish composers who emigrated to England to escape Hitler and the Third Reich. In London, he studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music.
Reizenstein wrote two operas, Men Against the Sea and Anna Kraus, but is best remembered for his 1949 Piano Quintet and the notorious Concerto Popolare at the Hoffnung Music Festivals.
He died on 15 October 1968.
A selection of articles about Franz Reizenstein
Classical music news - Music, Migration and Mobility - Malcolm Miller previews a new exhibition in London about émigré composers
CD Spotlight. Farrago of Fun - The Hoffnung Music Festival Concert, recommended by Howard Smith. '... though these show their age, the sound remains adequate.'