Ernst Jirgal

Ernst Jirgal studied the German language and literature and then worked as a teacher at the Federal Educational Institution in Wiener Neustadt. He later taught at secondary schools in Wien, Linz, and Baden. After the Anschluss of Austria he went into internal emigration. As director of the Tivoli Day Care Center from 1947, he was able to implement his pedagogical principles. Beginning in 1954 until his untimely death he taught at secondary schools.

As a writer, Jirgal published volumes of poetry, stories, essays, and dramas, but he was best known for his poetry. He was also editor of the literary magazine Plan from 1945-47 and received the Austrian State Prize for Poetry in 1950. His text Sports Cantata was written in 1952 and there is an audio recording read by Jirgal himself. In the same year the poem was set to music by Austrian composer Gerhard Wimberger (1923–2016). In 1954, this _Sports Cantata _ for tenor, baritone, choir, and chamber orchestra was performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the Vienna Concert Hall in a program together with the Olympic Hymn by Spiros Samaras.