Alfred Prinz (4 June 1930 – 20 September 2014) was an Austrian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ist, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

. In 1947 he was awarded a gold medal at the Geneva Music Competition and in 1971 he won a composition award from the city of Vienna. His compositional output includes 7

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, many

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

s, several works for solo

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, songs, and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. In 1998 his ''Fünf Goethe-Lieder'' (Five Goethe Songs) were premiered by

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Caroline Dowd-Higgins for whom Prinz had composed the pieces. As a concert clarinetist, he performed as a soloist with orchestras throughout the world and performed in concerts of chamber music internationally. He recorded for

Ariola Records Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola Express, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

, and the

Telarc International Corporation Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

among other record labels. Born in Vienna, Prinz began studying the clarinet at the age of 9 at the

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

with

Leopold Wlach Leopold Wlach (9 September 1902 – 7 May 1956) was an Austrian clarinetist and clarinet teacher. He was solo clarinetist at the Vienna State Opera/with the Vienna Philharmonics. Life Born in Vienna, Wlach first studied clarinet at the Vienna M ...

of the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

. He also earned a diploma in piano performance, studying from 1942 with

Bruno Seidlhofer Bruno Georg Seidlhofer (5 September 1905 – 19 February 1982) was an Austrian pianist, organist, academic teacher and piano teacher at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Life Born in Vienna, Seidlhofer taught piano at the Aca ...

. He later studied music composition under

Alfred Uhl Alfred Uhl (5 June 1909 – 8 June 1992) was an Austrian composer, violist, music teacher and conductor. Biography Uhl was born in Vienna and studied with Franz Schmidt at the Vienna Music Academy, receiving a diploma in composition with honour ...

and conducting under

Hans Swarowsky Hans Swarowsky (September 16, 1899September 10, 1975) was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth. Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss. Jiří Vysloužil ...

. In 1945, at the age of 15, he became a clarinetist in the

Vienna State Opera Orchestra The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by A ...

; and was the youngest performer ever to play for that ensemble. He later was principal clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic from 1955 to 1983 and retired in 1995. As an educator, Prinz taught clarinet at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna since 1972. He had been a visiting professor at the

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

from 1996 until his death. He gave numerous

masterclass Yanka Industries, Inc., doing business as MasterClass, is an American online education subscription platform on which students can access tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by experts in various fields. The concept for MasterClass was conceiv ...

es at the

Mozarteum University of Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German language, German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality; th ...

and at universities in Finland, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States.

References

External links

Autobiography Alfred Prinz
1930 births 2014 deaths University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Austrian male composers Austrian composers Austrian clarinetists Indiana University faculty Austrian music educators {{austria-composer-stub