Despite a fifteen-year age difference and their forced separation during World War II, when Korngold lived in American exile, Korngold and Marx maintained a lifelong friendship. Both Austrian composers were rooted in the late Romantic tradition and excelled as pianists.
A renowned educator, Marx directed the Vienna State Academy and even taught Korngold's younger son, Georg, for a time. His work as a critic and writer reflected his high regard for his younger colleague, as evidenced by surviving correspondence and reviews. Together, in 1923, they founded an "alternative" Salzburg Festival as a counterpoint to the International Society for Contemporary Music, which was dominated by Schoenberg's circle. Along with Zemlinsky, Grosz, Gál, Bittner, and others, they organized a highly regarded festival that presented modern music beyond serial techniques, much to the chagrin of the official committee, particularly ISCM founder Edward J. Dent.
Marx was a prominent figure at the Salzburg Festival, where he presented modern music that transcended serial techniques, much to the chagrin of the official committee, especially ISCM founder Edward J. Dent.
... Marx's Romantic Piano Concerto showcases his harmonic prowess, drawing on influences from Schumann, Brahms, and Reger.
Korngold's Piano Concerto in C major for the left hand, on the other hand, reads like a single-movement symphony. This remarkable work, composed after his operatic success, Die tote Stadt (The Dead City), captivates with unexpected harmonies and intense tonality. Written for the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein, it is characterized by Korngold's distinctive melodic and harmonic style.
The former child prodigy from Brno later achieved worldwide fame as an opera composer and a pioneer of film music in Hollywood. His Piano Concerto in C major demonstrates his modern harmonic understanding and enthralls with unique melodic connections leading up to the final cadenza. Since its Viennese premiere in 1924, it has been considered an extraordinary musical concept to this day.