Toch, Ernst
Austrian-born US composer and pianist. After an early modernist phase most of his music was neoclassical in spirit. He is remembered chiefly for his chamber music, symphonies, and film scores
He studied medicine and philosophy at first and was self-taught in music, but in 1909 was awarded the Frankfurt Mozart prize and studied there under Willy Rehberg, being appointed piano professor at the Mannheim Hochschule für Musik in 1913. He served in World War I, and settled in Berlin in 1929, but emigrated in 1932, going first to the USA, then to London, and settling permanently in the USA in 1934. After teaching in New York for two years, he moved to Hollywood as a film composer and teacher.
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