#toch

5. Ernst Toch (1887-1964) 

Born in Vienna, Toch was, apart from some basic piano lessons, like Alphons Diepenbrock, largely self taught. When he was quite young he found pocket book editions of some Mozart string quartets. These fascinated him so much that he copied them out and in so doing extended his knowledge of how to write music. His parents were not well off and wanted him to study medicine so he had to compose in secret. When he was seventeen his friend Joseph Fuchs saw him writing something at school. It was a string quartet. Fuchs borrowed it and secretly sent it to someone. It wasn't until Ernst got a letter from Arnold Rose of the famous Rose Quartet saying they were going to play it, that Toch found out what his friend had done.

Toch received the Mozart prize in 1909, and the Mendelssohn prize in 1910. He was appointed composition teacher at the Mann Music Academy in 1913. In 1933, because of the developing adverse political conditions, he left for the US, eventually ending up in Santa Monica where he spent the last years of his life.

The war affected his musical output badly, and only composed eight works between 1933-1945. He tried to get friends and family out of Germany and with all the stress he suffered a heart attack. In the States he helped finance his efforts by writing some film music and he also had a teaching job at the University of Southern California.

String quartet composition occupied him throughout his life but his first, Opp. 1-9 are lost. His quartets develop very interestingly as his style changes. I've chosen his first extant string quartet, No. 6, Op.12. It is utterly wonderful with beautiful interweaving melodies.

A few of so many other string quartets that I like very much:

Georgy Catoire - String Quartet, Op.23

Joseph Jongen - String Quarte, Op.3

Gustav Jenner - String Quartet, No.1 in G minor