Rankl, Karl
Rankl, Karl
Rankl, Karl , Austrian-born English conductor and composer; b. Gaaden, near Vienna, Oct. 1, 1898; d. Salzburg, Sept. 6, 1968. He was a pupil of Schoenberg and Webern in Vienna, and from both acquired a fine understanding of the problems of modern music. He occupied various positions as a chorus master and an opera coach in Vienna; served as assistant to Klemperer at the Kroll Opera in Berlin (1928–31), and then conducted opera in Graz (1932–37) and at the German Theater in Prague (1937–39). At the outbreak of World War II, he went to England and later became a naturalized subject; was music director at Covent Garden in London (1946–51), the Scottish National Orch. in Glasgow (1952–57), and the Elizabethan Opera Trust in Sydney (1958–60). He composed an opera, Deirdre of the Sorrows (1951), which won the Festival of Britain prize but was not perf.; also 8 syms.; an oratorio, Der Mensch; and many choral Works.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire