Born in Vienna, where he studied with Richard Robert and Franz Schmidt, he later emigrated to Paris, where he pursued further studies with Darius Milhaud. After living in Mexico City for a while, he returned to Vienna after the end of World War II.
Among the works he composed there are ten symphonies and the opera Kleider machen Leute (1969).
Honours and awards
1959: State Prize for Music
1961 and 1965: Award from the Theodor-Körner Foundation
1964: Title of Professor
1969: City of Vienna Prize for Music
1970: Grand Austrian State Prize for Music
1974: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
1979: Honorary Member of the Austrian Society for Contemporary Music
1980: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
1985: Honorary Member of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna
1986: Gold Medal of Vienna
Selected compositions
Stage works
Die Stadt, ballet (1933, rev. 1980)
Kleider machen Leute, opera (1969)
Der Schneider im Himmel, fairy tale in music (1981)
Cantatas & oratorios
Die Albigenser (1961)
O ihr Menschen. Ein Heiligenstädter Psalm (1977)
Auferstehung (1986)
Licht über Damaskus (1988)
Orchestral works
Ten symphonies (between 1928 and 1986)
Concertos for double bass (1970), trumpet (1972), bassoon (1976), piano (1992), flute & strings (1994)
