Schmidt-Gentner, Willy |
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BORN 6 May 1894, Neustadt am Rennsteig, Thüringen - DIED 12 Feb 1964, Wien BIRTH NAME Schmidt-Gentner, Friedrich Wilhelm GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Hietzinger Friedhof, Maxingstraße 15, Hietzing (Gruppe 16, Nummer 121) |
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Willy Schmidt-Gentner played the violin as a child and studied composition with Max Reger. After the First World War his work was to check if cinema owners paid the right amount of taxes. This resulted in a position as a band leader at a film theatre. In 1922 he composed hi first composition for a silent movie and many followed. Often he performed them himself on the piano. He wrote music for "Alraune" (1928) and "Hokuspokus" (1930). When sound films were introduced he quickly became one of the most productive composers of film music. In 1933 he went to Vienna, where he directed two movies, "Die Pompadour" (1935) and "Prater" (1936). For Sascha-Film he composed further film music for movies like "Maskarade" (1934) and "Hohe Schuhe" (1934). In 1933 he joined the NSDAP, but in 1934 his membership was canceled. After the Germans invaded Austria in 1938 he worked for Wien-Film, the film company of the nazis. He wrote the music for the propaganda movie "Heimkehr" (1941) and forpopular productions like "Wiener Blut" (1942). After the war he was able to continue his career and he wrote the music for "Wiener Mädeln" (1949). He continued working until 1955 and composed the music for about 200 films. He died in 1964 in Vienna. Related persons • was pupil of Reger, Max |
| Images |
 The grave of Willy Schmidt-Gentner at the Hietzinger Friedhof, Vienna. Picture by Androom (25 Aug 2016) |
Sources • Willy Schmidt-Gentner - Wikipedia (DE) |
