Edmund von Borck

Edmund Konstantin Wilhelm von Borck (22 February 1906 - 16 February 1944) was a German composer of (modern) classical music and a conductor.

Edmund von Borck was born in Breslau, Germany to a landholding family that had joined the nobility in 1796. His father, Eduard von Borck (1864–1938) was a captain (Rittmeister) with the Silesian cuirassier regiment (de:Leib-Kürassier-Regiment „Großer Kurfürst“ (Schlesisches) Nr. 1). His mother, Erika (née Lübbecke) (1880–1945), was related to Johann Friedrich Reichardt.

Borck studied piano with Bronisław von Poźniak from 1920 to 1926 and had composition lessons from Ernst Kirsch. After graduating from school with his Abitur, he began studying musicology. He continued this study in Berlin in 1928, but soon afterwards switched his focus to conducting, and completed the conducting (Kapellmeister) class at the Berliner Musikhochschule under the direction of Julius Prüwer.

In 1930 he became conductor of the Frankfurt Opera and was a guest conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1931 he returned to Berlin and largely retired from conducting, instead devoting himself to composing. His first compositions were published in 1932. In 1933 he made his breakthrough with the world premiere of his Five Orchestra Pieces, op. 8 at the World Music Day of the International Society for Contemporary Music in Amsterdam.

He was regarded as one of the most promising composers of his generation in Europe. His works were published by Universal Edition in Vienna starting in 1936.

Borck was called up for military service in 1940 and died in Nettuno, Italy during Operation Shingle, the allied invasion of Italy. His grave is in the German military cemetery in Pomezia (Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Pomezia).