Eric Zeisl(1905-1959)
- Composer
- Music Department
Composer and author Eric Zeisl entered the Vienna State Academy at
fourteen years of age and was acclaimed as one of Austria's young
compositional lights. In 1934 he won the Austrian State Prize for his
music, but because of growing anti-Semitic pressures there he he was
unable to secure a publishing contract since his work would have been
banned in Germany. Fleeing Vienna for Paris in 1938, he finally reached
America in late 1939 and settled in Los Angeles. He joined ASCAP in
1951. Zeisl composed one piano concerto, one cello concerto, four
ballets, several choral and chamber music works and an unfinished
opera. Zeisl also made several recordings that were published at the
height of his fame.
Eric Zeisl passed away after teaching an evening class at L.A. City College. He had one daughter, Barbara Zeisl, who married Ronald Schoenberg, one of the sons of composer Arnold Schoenberg; her brother-in-law is Italian composer Luigi Nono. Ronald Schoenberg, the Los Angeles judge who presided over the spousal-abuse trial of Nicole and O.J. Simpson, had four children with Barbara: Eric Randol "Randy," Marlena, Frederic "Rick" and Melanie.
In 2015, the English film "Woman in Gold" starring Helen Mirren depicted a famous art recovery case that Zeisl's grandson Randy Schoenberg (played by Ryan Reynolds) argued before the Supreme Court.
Eric Zeisl passed away after teaching an evening class at L.A. City College. He had one daughter, Barbara Zeisl, who married Ronald Schoenberg, one of the sons of composer Arnold Schoenberg; her brother-in-law is Italian composer Luigi Nono. Ronald Schoenberg, the Los Angeles judge who presided over the spousal-abuse trial of Nicole and O.J. Simpson, had four children with Barbara: Eric Randol "Randy," Marlena, Frederic "Rick" and Melanie.
In 2015, the English film "Woman in Gold" starring Helen Mirren depicted a famous art recovery case that Zeisl's grandson Randy Schoenberg (played by Ryan Reynolds) argued before the Supreme Court.
