Karl Goldmark

Karl Goldmark (born May 18, 1830, Keszthely, Hung.—died Jan. 2, 1915, Vienna, Austria) was an Austro-Hungarian composer whose opera Die Königin von Saba (1875; “The Queen of Sheba”) was highly popular in the late 19th century.

The son of a poor Jewish cantor, Goldmark studied violin in Vienna under Georg Böhm and theory under Gottfried Preyer; in composition he was self-taught. During his long career in Vienna he became a leading musical figure of the city, directing the Eintracht Choral Society, writing music criticism, and rallying support for the faction of Richard Wagner—in opposition to Johannes Brahms and Eduard Hanslick. He composed in all the standard genres, sometimes in a vaguely Hungarian idiom but nearly always showing a dependence upon Wagner. His most successful works are the overture Sakuntala (1860) and the opera Die Königin von Saba. Among his other works are five operas, notably Das Heimchen am Herd (1896; “The Cricket on the Hearth,” after Charles Dickens); two symphonies; and chamber works.