Alexander von Zemlinsky

Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky’s grandfather, Anton Semlinski, emigrated from Žilina, Hungary (now in Slovakia) to Austria and married an Austrian woman. Both were from staunchly Roman Catholic families, and Alexander’s father, , was raised as a Catholic. Alexander’s mother, Clara Semo, was born in Sarajevo to a Sephardic Jewish father and a Bosniak mother. Alexander’s entire family converted to the religion of his maternal grandfather, Judaism, and Zemlinsky was born and raised Jewish. His father added an aristocratic “von” to his name, though neither he nor his forebears were ennobled. He also began spelling his surname in Hungarian “Zemlinszky”. He was also a freemason. Alexander studied the piano from a young age. He played the organ in his synagogue on holidays, and was admitted to the Vienna Conservatory in 1884. He studied piano with Wilhelm Rauch and Anton Door, winning the school’s piano prize in 1890. He continued his studies until 1892, studying theory with Robert Fuchs and composition