Austria–Hungary on Music Theory Print

Agnes Tyrrell

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Agnes Tyrrell (20 September 1846 – 18 April 1883) was a composer and pianist of English and Czech descent. Life Agnes Tyrrell was born in Brno, the regional capital of Moravia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She was the daughter of English teacher Henry Foster Tyrrell, who had established himself among the German-speaking community of Brno, and his Czech wife Josefína Kotulánová. Agnes Tyrrell grew up speaking English, German, and Czech fluently. A child prodigy, she performed in her first piano recital at nine, and attended the Vienna Conservatory at sixteen. She studied piano with Adalbert Pacher in Vienna and composition with Anton Bruckner’s teacher Otto Kitzler in Brno. She had to give up an active career as a pianist due to failing health (heart problems), and instead devoted her short life to composition Oeuvre Tyrrell was a prolific composer. During her fairly short life (she was 36 when she died), she composed 39 compositions for piano solo, 55 vocal compositions ranging from songs to choral music, oratorio and opera, and several major orchestral works. Tyrrell was one of the few women to compose a symphony before 1900. In 2018, her Overture in C Minor received a world pre

Alexander von Zemlinsky

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky’s grandfather, Anton Semlinski, emigrated from Žilina, Hungary (now in Slovakia) to Austria and married an Austrian woman. Both were from staunchly Roman Catholic families, and Alexander’s father, , was raised as a Catholic. Alexander’s mother, Clara Semo, was born in Sarajevo to a Sephardic Jewish father and a Bosniak mother. Alexander’s entire family converted to the religion of his maternal grandfather, Judaism, and Zemlinsky was born and raised Jewish. His father added an aristocratic “von” to his name, though neither he nor his forebears were ennobled. He also began spelling his surname in Hungarian “Zemlinszky”. He was also a freemason. Alexander studied the piano from a young age. He played the organ in his synagogue on holidays, and was admitted to the Vienna Conservatory in 1884. He studied piano with Wilhelm Rauch and Anton Door, winning the school’s piano prize in 1890. He continued his studies until 1892, studying theory with Robert Fuchs and composition

Alphons Czibulka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alphons Czibulka (also written as Alfons or Alfonz; 14 May 1842 – 27 October 1894) was an Austro-Hungarian military bandmaster, composer, pianist and conductor. Life Czibulka was born in the Spišské Podhradie ( ) district of Spiš () in Upper Hungary, now Slovakia. He first came to prominence from the age of 15 touring Southern Russia giving piano recitals and concerts. He eventually became musical director at the French Opera in Odessa and at the National Theatre in Innsbruck, in 1865 he was second under Franz von Suppé as conductor at the Carl Theatre in Vienna. From 1866 to 1869 he served as a military bandmaster in Austro-Hungarian Infantry Regiment No. 17 in Bolzano. From 1869 to 1870 he held the same position at the “23ern” in Petrovaradin and then, until 1871, with Infantry Regiment No. 20 in Kraków. Success as conductor and composer in the military led Czibulka onwards to Kapellmeister for Infantry Regiment No. 25 in Prague from 1872 to 1880. In 1880 he was appointed representative of Austria-Hungary’s military orchestra at the International Exhibition in Brussels. There he won First Prize at the exhibition’s Internationalen Musikkapellenkonkurrenz. When Rudolf, Crown Prince

Arnold Schoenberg

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1874–1894: Upbringing#

Arnold Schönberg was born on 13 September 1874 at Obere Donaustraße 5 in Vienna’s Leopoldstadt (historically a Jewish ghetto), into a lower-middle-class Jewish family. His father, Samuel, a shoe shopkeeper from Szécsény, Hungary, had moved to Vienna via Pozsony (Pressburg; now Bratislava). His mother Pauline Nachod was from a Prague family belonging to the Old New Synagogue. He began violin at eight and soon started writing music autodidactically by arranging and imitating what he played or heard, like military band repertoire, for informal performance. Juvenilia survive from as early as 1882, sometimes only as fragments or parts. They include a birthday march and arrangements of Gustav Pick’s Fiakerlied and Vincenzo Bellini’s “Ite su colle”. He composed violin duets after Ignaz Pleyel and Giovanni Battista Viotti, and advanced to string trios (for two violins and viola) without clear models.

August Wilhelm Ambros

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

August Wilhelm Ambros (17 November 181628 June 1876) was an Austrian music historian, critic and composer of Czech descent. Life He was born in Mýto, Rokycany District, Bohemia. (1773–1850), the musical archaeologist and collector. Ambros studied at the University of Prague From 1850 onwards, he became well known as a critic and essay-writer, and in 1860 he began working on his magnum opus, his History of Music, which was published at intervals from 1862 in five volumes, the last two (1878, 1882) being edited and completed by Otto Kade and . Also in Prague, he sat on the board of governors in the Prague Royal Conservatory. By 1872, he was living in Vienna and was employed by the Department of Justice as an officer and by Prince Rudolf’s family as his tutor. Through his work in Vienna, he was given a leave of absence for half the year in order to let him travel the world to collect musical information to include in his History of Music book. He was an excellent pianist, and the author of numerous compositions reminiscent of Felix Mendelssohn. Ambros died at Vienna in 1876, aged 59. Selected writings * See also * List of Austrians in music References External links * Works by August

Bedrich Smetana

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Family background and childhood#

Bedřich Smetana, first named Friedrich Smetana, was born on 2 March 1824, in Litomyšl (German: Leitomischl), east of Prague near the traditional border between Bohemia and Moravia, then provinces of the Habsburg Empire. He was the third child, and first son, of František Smetana and his third wife Barbora Linková. František had fathered eight children in two earlier marriages, five daughters surviving infancy; he and Barbora had ten more children, of whom seven reached adulthood. The Smetana family came from the Hradec Králové (German: Königgrätz) region of Bohemia. František had initially learned the trade of a brewer, and had acquired moderate wealth during the Napoleonic Wars by supplying clothing and provisions to the French Army. He subsequently managed several breweries before coming to Litomyšl in 1823 as brewer to Count Waldstein, whose Renaissance castle dominates the town. František Smetana played violin in a string quartet, and Barbora Smetana was a dancer. Bedřich was introduced to music by his father and in October 1830, at the age of six, gave his first public performance. At a concert held in Litomyšl’s Philosophical Academy he played a piano arrangement of Auber’s overture to La muette de Portici, to a rapturous reception. In 1831 the family moved to Jindřichův Hradec in the south of Bohemia—the region where, a generation later, Gustav Mahler grew up. In 1835, František retired to Růžkovy Lhotice Castle. whose departure for Prague in 1838 may have influenced Smetana’s own desire to experience life in the capital. The following year, with František’s approval, he enrolled at Prague’s Academic Grammar School under Josef Jungmann, a distinguished poet and linguist who was a leading figure in the movement for Czech national revival.

Bohumil Fidler

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bohumil Fidler (also Fiedler) (May 27, 1860 - June 2, 1944) was a Czech composer, choirmaster, choral conductor and music teacher. He was born in Příbram, where he lived and worked his entire life. Biography Fidler was a foremost figure in the musical life of Příbram and the surrounding region. Upon completing his education, he taught at the local teachers college until 1889, and subsequently served as choir director at St. Jacob’s Church. For more than 15 years Fidler was also the choirmaster of Příbram’s “Lumir-Dobromila” choral association. Additionally, he founded the Příbram Philharmonic Orchestra and was its conductor from 1908-1913. Style Bohumil Fidler’s compositions include two Missa brevi, two Pastorale Masses, a celebratory Mass for mixed choir, soloists, orchestra and organ, and numerous smaller works for chorus as well as songs for solo voice. For the stage he wrote music for two fairy tales: Mikeš Lumidřevo and Zvířátka a Petrovští. His Slavonic Waltz was composed for the Příbram Philharmonic Orchestra; he also wrote 20 funeral marches for military band. Selected works Church music: *Missa solemnis in D major (1901) - performed in 1903 *Missa pastoralis II. (1937) *Mi

Carl Maria von Bocklet

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Carl Maria von Bocklet (30 November 1801 – 15 July 1881) was a composer, pianist and teacher of music. Bocklet was born in Prague. He studied with Bedřich Diviš Weber and in 1821 he moved to Vienna, where he “created a great stir…through his interesting free fantasias on the piano forte.” In Vienna, Eduard Marxsen was one of his notable students. () Ludwig van Beethoven wrote letters of introduction for him, more than likely, he was influential to Frédéric Chopin. He was also admired by Franz Liszt as the two collaborated on concerts together. In 1828 he was, with Ignaz Schuppanzigh and Joseph Linke, the first performer of Schubert’s two piano trios (1827). Among his own compositions is a variation for Part II of Diabelli’s Waltz of the Vaterländischer Künstlerverein. Carl Maria von Bocklet died in Vienna, aged 79. References External links *

Ciprian Porumbescu

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ciprian Porumbescu (; born Cyprian Gołęmbiowski; 14 October 1853 – 6 June 1883) was a Romanian composer born in Șipotele Sucevei in Bucovina. He was among the most celebrated Romanian composers of his time; his popular works include Crai nou, Song of the Tricolour, Song for Spring, Ballad for violin and piano, and Serenada. In addition, he composed the music for the Romanian patriotic “Song of Unity”, also known as “Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire” (“On our flag is written Unity”), which was Romania’s anthem from 1975 to 1977 and is currently used for Albania’s national anthem, “Himni i Flamurit”. His work spreads over various forms and musical genres, but the majority of his work is choral and operetta. Life and career Ciprian Porumbescu was born into the family of Iraclie Gołęmbiowski a Romanian Orthodox priest and Emilia Clodnițchi, Polish, daughter of the forest brigadier from Voievodeasa. Iraclie Gołęmbiowski called himself Iraclie Porumbescu from his youth, but he did not officially change his name until 1881, when Ciprian was at school in Suceava. He was assigned as a priest to Șipotele Sucevei, a Hutsul village, as a punishment for repeatedly criticizing Bishop Eugene Hack

Dora Pejačević

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Countess Maria Theodora Paulina “Dora” Pejačević (; 10 September 1885 – 5 March 1923) was a Croatian composer, pianist and violinist and one of the first composers to introduce the orchestral song to Croatian music. Her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered by scholars to be the first modern symphony in Croatian music. Pejačević is noted for her vocal compositions, piano miniatures, and string quartets, In her early career, Pejačević’s primary themes were highly representative of the Romantic period, but this would change after her experience working as a paramedic in the First World War after which her works reflected the philosophic movement of nihilism and discussed motifs of death, isolation, and futility of war. In one of her diaries, she commented on 470 books she had read in the period from 1902 to 1921, which covered fields of literature, philosophy, music, religion, history, and natural sciences. The couple soon moved to Munich and had their first child, which proved to be fatal for Pejacevic. Her life is the subject of the fictionalized Croatian biographical film Countess Dora (1993), directed by Zvonimir Berković and starring Alma Prica and Rade Šerbedžija. List of wor

Eduard Strauss

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Eduard “Edi” Strauss (15 March 1835 – 28 December 1916) was an Austrian composer who, together with his brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim. The family dominated the Viennese light music world for decades, creating many waltzes and polkas for many Austrian nobility as well as dance-music enthusiasts around Europe. He was affectionately known in his family as ‘Edi’. Life and music Eduard Strauss’ style was individual and did not attempt to emulate the works of his other brothers or his contemporaries. But he was primarily remembered and recognized as a dance music conductor rather than as a major composer in the , and his popularity was overshadowed by that of his elder brothers. Realising this, he stamped his own mark with the quick polka, known in German as the “polka-schnell”. Among the more popular polkas that he penned for the Strauss Orchestra, which he continued to conduct until its disbandment on 13 February 1901, were “”, Op. 45, “Ausser Rand und Band”, Op. 168, and “Ohne Bremse”, Op. 238. He also found time to pen a few lovely waltzes, of which only a handful survived obs

Eusebius Mandyczewski

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Eusebius Mandyczewski (, ; 18 August 1857, in Molodiia – 13 August 1929, in Vienna) was a Romanian musicologist, composer, conductor, and teacher. He was an author of numerous musical works and is highly regarded within Austrian, Romanian and Ukrainian music circles. Personal life Eusebius Mandyczewski was born in the village of Bahrynivka (Ukrainian: Багринівка; Romanian: Bahrinești) (then Austria-Hungary; now Ukraine, Hlyboka Raion) on 18 August 1857. His father was a priest and his mother, Veronica, born Popovici, was the sister of Eusebiu Popovici, erudite professor of history at the University of Cernauti and the father of the Bucovinian poet Gheorghe Popovici (known under the pen name of T. Robeanu). His origin according to the father has Slavic affiliations; according to his mother the origin is Romanian. Eusebius had two brothers (Georgiy and Prof. Kostiantyn) and one sister (Kateryna). Kostiantyn was a secondary school teacher, member of the regional School Council and later Head of the Chernivtsi Library. Kateryna Mandychevs’ka was a school teacher. Georgiy was also a composer of choral music. He finished his secondary studies at the upper school of Chernivtsi and simulta

Filaret Kolessa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Filaret Mykhailovych Kolessa (; 17 July 18713 March 1947) was a Ukrainian composer, ethnographer, folklorist, musicologist and literary critic. He was a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society from 1909, from 1929, and the founder of Ukrainian ethnographic musicology. Biography Filaret Mykhailovych Kolessa was born on 17 July 1871 in the Galician village of Tatarske, now the village of Pishchany, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. He studied at the University of Vienna under the composer Anton Bruckner from 1891 to 1892, and completed his studies at the Lviv University in 1896. Filaret taught in high schools in Lviv, Stryi, and Sambir. He worked with the composer Mykola Lysenko, and the writers Ivan Franko and Lesya Ukrainka. In 1918, he defended his dissertation at the University of Vienna and received the title Doctor of Philology. He studied the rhythms of Ukrainian folk songs of Galicia, Volhynia and Lemkivshchyna. From 1939 he was a professor at Lviv University, from 1940 the director of the State museum of Ethnography in Lviv, director of the Lviv section, of the Institute for Art studies, Folklore and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (from 1940), and a part

František Drdla

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

František Alois Drdla (Germanised as Franz Drdla; 28 November 1868 – 3 September 1944) was a Czech concert violinist and composer of light music. Biography Drdla was born in 1868 in Žďár nad Sázavou in Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic). He studied violin and composition first at the Prague Conservatory and later at the Vienna Conservatory where his teachers were Joseph Hellmesberger Jr. for violin, Anton Bruckner for music theory and Franz Krenn for composition. However, Drdla’s music shows none of his teachers’ influences. From 1890 to 1893 he played violin in the orchestra of the Vienna Court Opera, and from 1894 to 1899 he pursued his career as the director and concertmaster of the Theater an der Wien. By then a well-known concert violinist, Drdla toured throughout Europe (1899–1905) and later the United States (1923–1925). Drdla enjoyed a good reputation as a violinist with a technically refined tone. In 1927 he received an honorary title from the President of Austria. Drdla died in Bad Gastein, Austria on 3 September 1944. Although he composed three operettas, a violin concerto, several orchestral works and two piano trios, international fame came to Drdla as a

Franz Doppler

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Albert Franz Doppler (16 October 182127 July 1883) was a flute virtuoso and a composer best known for his flute music. He also wrote one German and several Hungarian operas for Budapest, all produced with great success. His ballet music was popular during his lifetime. Life Doppler was born in Lemberg (Austrian Empire), now Lviv, Ukraine. From 1828 to 1831, he received flute lessons from his father, Joseph Doppler, who was an oboist, and made his debut as a flautist at the age of 13. He formed a flute duo with his brother Karl, four years younger, who mainly wrote songs and incidental music, and as a duo they caused quite a sensation throughout Europe. They toured and both became members of the orchestra of the German Theatre, Budapest, in 1838 and both moved to the Hungarian National Theatre in 1841. There, five of Franz’s operas were staged with success. Franz and Karl continued to make regular tours of Europe and helped found the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra in 1853. At the age of 18 Franz was the first flautist at the opera in Budapest, and he went on to be the first flautist and stand-in conductor and eventually chief conductor, of the Vienna Court Opera, as well as acquir

Franz Liszt

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early life#

Franz Liszt was born to Anna Liszt (née Maria Anna Lager) and Adam Liszt on 22 October 1811, in the village of Doborján (now Raiding, Austria) in Sopron County, in the Kingdom of Hungary, which was part of the Habsburg monarchy. Liszt’s father was a land steward in the service of Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy; a keen amateur musician, he played the piano, guitar and flute, and knew Joseph Haydn and Johann Nepomuk Hummel personally. A renowned child prodigy, Franz began to improvise at the piano from before the age of five, and his father diligently encouraged his progress. Franz also found exposure to music through attending Mass, as well as travelling Romani bands that toured the Hungarian countryside. His first public concert was in Sopron in 1820 at the age of nine; its success led to further appearances in Pressburg and for Prince Nikolaus’ court in Eisenstadt. The publicity led to a group of wealthy sponsors offering to finance Franz’s musical education in Vienna. There, Liszt received piano lessons from Carl Czerny, who in his own youth had been a student of Beethoven and Hummel. Czerny, already extremely busy, had only grudgingly agreed to hear Liszt play, and had initially refused to entertain the idea of regular lessons. Being so impressed by the initial audition, however, Czerny taught Liszt regularly, free of charge, for the next eighteen months, at which point he felt he had nothing more to teach. Liszt remained grateful to his former teacher, later dedicating to him the Transcendental Études on their 1830 republication. Liszt also received lessons in composition from Antonio Salieri, the accomplished music director of the Viennese court who had previously taught Beethoven and Schubert. Like Czerny, Salieri was highly impressed by Liszt’s improvisation and sight-reading abilities. Liszt’s public debut in Vienna on 1 December 1822 was a great success. He was greeted in Austrian and Hungarian aristocratic circles and met Beethoven and Schubert. To build on his son’s success, Adam Liszt decided to take the family to Paris, the centre of the artistic world. At Liszt’s final Viennese concert on 13 April 1823, Beethoven was reputed to have walked onstage and kissed Liszt on the forehead, to signify a kind of artistic christening. There is debate, however, on the extent to which this story is apocryphal. The family briefly returned to Hungary, and Liszt played a concert in traditional Hungarian dress, in order to emphasise his roots, in May 1823. In 1824 a piece Liszt had written at the age of 11 – his Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli (S. 147) – appeared in of Vaterländischer Künstlerverein as his first published composition. This volume, commissioned by Anton Diabelli, includes 50 variations on his waltz by 50 different composers ( being taken up by Beethoven’s 33 variations on the same theme, which are now separately better known simply as his Diabelli Variations). Liszt was the youngest contributor to the project, described in it as “a boy of eleven years old”; Czerny was also a participant.

Franz von Suppé

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Franz von Suppé, born Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Cavaliere Suppé Demelli (18 April 181921 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A composer and conductor of the Romantic period, he is notable for his four dozen operettas, including the first operetta to a German libretto. Some of them remain in the repertory, particularly in German-speaking countries, and he composed a substantial quantity of church music, but he is now chiefly known for his overtures, which remain popular in the concert hall and on record. Among the best-known are Poet and Peasant, Light Cavalry, Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna and . Life and career Suppé’s parents named him Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo when he was born on 18 April 1819 in Spalato, now Split, Dalmatia, Croatia. Suppé’s mother was born in Vienna. Other incorrect information is given in a 1905 biography of Suppé by Otto Keller, husband of one of the composer’s granddaughters, based on the unreliable recollections of Suppé’s widow. from where he supposedly visited Milan and met Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi and attended

Fritz Kreisler

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Friedrich “Fritz” Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian and American violinist and composer. Of Jewish descent, he was however baptised at the age of 12. At age seven, Kreisler entered the Vienna Conservatory where he studied under Anton Bruckner, Jakob Dont and Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., and studied composition and violin at the Paris Conservatory between 1885 and 1887, where his teachers included Léo Delibes, Lambert Massart and Jules Massenet. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory with the highest “Premier Prix” in violin at the age of 12, competing against 40 other players, most of whom were at least 20 years of age. He made his United States debut at the Steinway Hall in New York City on November 10, 1888, and his first tour of the United States in 1888–1889 with Moriz Rosenthal. He then returned to Austria and applied for a position in the Vienna Philharmonic, but was turned down by the concertmaster Arnold Rosé. As a result, he left music to study medicine. He spent a brief time in the army before returning to the violin in 1899, when he gave a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Arthur Nikisch. It was this concert and a series of Ame

Gabriel von Wayditch

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gabriel von Wayditch (28 December 1888, Budapest28 July 1969 New York City) was a Hungarian-American composer whose output consisted primarily of 14 grand operas. The son of Dr. Aloysious (Lajos) von Wayditch von Verbovac (Verbovác), a nobleman and inventor who had taught physics at the University of Pécs, and Helena von Dönhoff, a Prussian baroness, who was according to familytrees related to the ancient magyar Árpád dynasty. Gabriel (Wayditch Gábor) was born in Budapest. He studied piano, conducting, and composition at the National Hungarian Academy of Music (now the Franz Liszt Academy of Music) where his teachers included Franz Liszt’s pupil Emil von Sauer and Hans von Koessler, who was also the teacher of composers Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernő Dohnányi, and Kálmán Emmerich. Life and career In 1910, Gabriel von Wayditch began composing his first opera, , for which he also wrote his own Hungarian libretto. But after his parents separated, he emigrated to the United States with his father before completing it, arriving in New York harbor in 1911. In New York City, Wayditch worked as a theater conductor while completing Ópium Álmok, which lasts 4 hours and requires an orchestr

Hanns Eisler

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hanns Eisler (; 6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian and German composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin is named after him. Family background Johannes Eisler was born in Leipzig, Saxony, on 6 July 1898 – the third child of Rudolf Eisler and Marie Ida Fischer. His father was a philosophy professor and an atheist of Jewish descent, and his mother was Lutheran of Swabian descent. In 1901, the family moved to Vienna. His older brother Gerhart was a communist journalist, At age 14, Eisler joined a socialist youth group. In 1917, one year after Eisler graduated high school, the 18-year-old Eisler was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army to fight during World War I, where he served as a front-line soldier. He found this time physically demanding, due to his poor health and small stature, and was injured several times in combat. Returning to Vienna after Austria’s defeat, he studied from 1919 to 1923 under Arnold Schoenberg. Eisler was the first of Schoenberg’s disciples to compose in the twelve-tone or

Hugo Wolf

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (; ; 13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but diverging greatly in technique. Though he had several bursts of extraordinary productivity, particularly in 1888 and 1889, depression frequently interrupted his creative periods, and his last composition was written in 1898, before he suffered a mental collapse caused by syphilis. Life Early life (1860–1887) Hugo Wolf was born in Windischgrätz in the Duchy of Styria (now Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia), then a part of the Austrian Empire. His baptismal entry records him as Hugo Philip. Jacob. Wolf, the son of Filip Wolf and Katharina (née Nußbaumer) Wolf. Herbert von Karajan was related to him on his maternal side. He spent most of his life in Vienna, becoming a representative of a “New German” trend in Lieder, a trend which followed from the expressive, chromatic and dramatic musical innovations of Richard Wagner. A child prodigy, Wolf was taught piano and violin by his father begi

Ignaz Brüll

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ignaz Brüll (7 November 1846 – 17 September 1907) was a pianist and composer from Austria-Hungary. Born in Moravia, he lived and worked in Vienna. His operatic compositions included Das goldene Kreuz (The Golden Cross), which became a repertory work for several decades after its first production in 1875, but eventually fell into neglect after being banned by the Nazis because of Brüll’s Jewish origins. He also wrote a small corpus of finely crafted works for the concert hall and recitals. Brüll’s compositional style was lively but unabashedly conservative, in the vein of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Brüll was also highly regarded as a sensitive concert pianist. Johannes Brahms regularly wanted Brüll to be his partner in private performances of four-hand piano duet arrangements of his latest works. Indeed, Brüll was a prominent member of Brahms’s circle of musical and literary friends, many of whom he and his wife frequently entertained. In recent years, Brüll’s concert music has been revived on CD, and well-received recordings are available of his piano concertos, among other non-vocal works. In 1872 he was appointed professor at the Horak Institute in Vienna. His parents were prosper

Ion Vidu

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ion Vidu ( – 7 February 1931), was a Romanian composer and choral conductor. Under his influence the small town of Lugoj, which up until that time had not that much in the way of artistic institutions, became a well-known center of choral music in Romania. Vidu was born in Mânerău, Arad County, Austrian Empire, where he initially studied music at the Arad Conservatory (1880–1881) and later at Caransebeș in the Banat region just south of Arad (1885). From 1890 to 1891 he attended the Conservatory of Music and Declamation in Iași (in the historical region of Moldavia, very near the northeastern border of modern Romania), studying harmony and choral conducting with Gavriil Musicescu. He subsequently moved back to Banat, obtaining a post in Lugoj (midway between Caransebeș and Timișoara), where he stayed for the rest of his life. Almost all of his compositions are for chorus. In 1922 he organized the Banat Choral and Brass Band Society, which at one time included more than 10,000 peasant singers. Like his friends and fellow composers Gavriil Musicescu, Béla Bartók, and Dumitru Kiriac-Georgescu, he was an avid collector of folk music. Vidu based most of his music on Romanian folk tunes,

Ján Levoslav Bella

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ján Levoslav Bella (German Johann Leopold Bella; 4 September 1843 – 25 May 1936) was a Slovak composer, conductor and music teacher, who wrote in the spirit of the Nationalist Romantic movement of the 19th century. Life Bella was born in Liptovský Mikuláš (Liptau-Sankt-Nikolaus), Austrian Empire (now Slovakia), and raised in a Roman Catholic family. He studied at the college in Levoča and a seminary in Banská Bystrica before taking a degree at Vienna University. Bella was ordained a priest in 1866. From 1869 to 1881 he was town director of music at Kremnica. He left the priesthood in 1881 and converted to Protestantism, becoming director of music in Hermannstadt/Nagyszeben, now Sibiu in modern Romania, (at that time Kingdom of Hungary) where he remained until 1921. From 1921 to 1928 he lived in retirement in Vienna, moving to Bratislava in 1928, where he died in 1936. Music Bella began to compose whilst studying in Levoča. At this time his output was largely small-scale, such as church music, folk-song arrangements and some chamber music. In 1873 however, visiting Vienna and Prague, he heard for the first time the music of, amongst others, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner and Bedřic

Jaroslav Křička

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jaroslav Křička (; 27 August 1882 – 23 January 1969) was a Czech composer, conductor and music teacher. He was the brother of poet . Life Jaroslav Křička was born on 27 August 1882 in Kelč, Moravia, Austria-Hungary. He was born into the family of the Kelč village cantor and headmaster František Křička (1848–1891) as the oldest of three siblings. His mother was Františka Křičková (1861-1936). His brother Petr Křička (1884–1949) later became a well-known poet, and his sister Pavla Křičková (1886–1972) became a writer. Their father enthusiastically supported the musical education of his children; Jaroslav received violin, piano, and voice lessons as a child. He attended high school in Havlíčkův Brod and graduated in 1900. As a high school student, he founded his own vocal quartet, string quartet, and student orchestra and began to compose. After graduating from high school, he moved to Prague and studied at the Prague Conservatory from 1902 to 1905. Under the tutelage of Josef Klička, he studied organ, orchestration, and harmony. He studied conducting with and composition with Karel Stecker cs . His musical role models were the famous Czech composers Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, a

Jenő Takács

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jenő Takács (; 25 September 1902 – 14 November 2005) was a Hungarian composer and pianist. Life and work Born in Cinfalva on 25 September 1902, he studied at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Joseph Marx in composition and Paul Weingarten in piano until 1926 at the University of Vienna counterpoint with Hans Gál and musicology with Guido Adler. Since 1920, he had already undertaken tours through Germany, Hungary and Yugoslavia. In 1926 he made acquaintance with Béla Bartók; from which a lively contact arose until Bartók’s emigration to the United States in 1940. He was a professor of piano at the conservatory of Cairo, Egypt from 1927 to 1932, where he made Arab and Egyptian Music the subject of his research. He knew Egon Wellesz, Curt Sachs, Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Paul Hindemith. In the years 1932 to 1934 he was a professor of piano and composition at the University of the Philippines, Conservatory of Music. He gave concerts in Japan, China and Hong Kong. Due to a new professorship in piano at the conservatory in Cairo in 1938, he made his first trip to the United States. In 1939, he moved to Sopron in Hungary, however the German authorities made his

Johann Joseph Abert

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Johann Joseph Abert (20 September 1832 – 1 April 1915 in Stuttgart) was a German composer. An ethnic German from the Sudetenland, he is also known in Czech as Jan Josef Abert. Life and career Abert was born in Kochowitz near Gastorf, Bohemia, now Kochovice, Hoštka, Czech Republic. He studied double bass at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Hrabě and also received lessons in theory from Johann Friedrich Kittl and August Wilhelm Ambros. In 1853, Peter Josef von Lindpaintner selected him as a double bassist for the Court Orchestra at Stuttgart, the royal capital of Württemberg. He became the Court Kapellmeister in 1867 and remained in this office, previously occupied by Lindpainter, Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken, and Karl Anton Eckerts, until 1888. Abert composed chamber music and lieder, as well as several successful operas. Of his seven symphonies, the Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony, No. 7) in C, the program symphony Columbus (No. 4), and the Symphony in C minor (No. 2) are generally considered to be the best. The Württembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart and the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach currently share responsibility for the preservation of his manuscripts and other p

Josef Forster (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Josef Forster (20 January 1838 in Trofaiach – 23 March 1917 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer; known primarily for his operas and operettas. Biography He was one of ten children born to Jakob Forster, an organist, and his wife Klara, the daughter of a choirmaster. After beginning his musical training at home, he became a choir boy at Admont Abbey, where he received further instruction from their organist, Franz Traunbauer (1775-1864). In 1854, he enrolled in the teacher training institute in Graz; followed by technical studies at the Joanneum (now the Graz University of Technology). It was during this time that he made his first attempts at composition; now lost. In 1865, he went to Vienna to study architecture, but soon gave up. To support himself, he worked as a private teacher. Forster also devised inventions which were not successful. He was, however, awarded several patents for optical devices, guns and engines. With the support of Eduard Hanslick and Felix Otto Dessoff, he made his debut as a composer with two string quartets and a Symphony in C minor, performed in 1871 by the Vienna Philharmonic with Dessoff conducting. During the 1870s and 1880s, he premiered numerous ope

Josef Pischna

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Josef Pischna (; 15 June 1826 – 19 October 1896) was a Czech pianist and composer. Josef Pischna was born in near Příbram and studied oboe at the Prague Conservatory from 1840 to 1846. He worked for thirty-five years as a pianist and piano teacher in Moscow. References

Joseph Gungl

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Joseph Gungl, correct: Josef Gung’l (1 December 1809 – 1 February 1889), was a Hungarian composer, bandmaster, and conductor. He was soprano Virginia Naumann-Gungl’s father. Biography Gungl was born in Schambeck, Austrian-Hungarian monarchy (now Zsámbék, Hungary). After working as a school-teacher in Buda, and learning the elements of music from the school-choirmaster, he became first oboist at Graz, and, at twenty-five, bandmaster of the 4th Regiment of Austrian Artillery. His first composition, a Hungarian march, written in 1836, attracted some notice, and in 1843 he was able to establish an orchestra in Berlin. With this band he travelled far, even to the United States in 1848–1849. Mendelssohn’s complete A Midsummer Night’s Dream music is said to have been first played by Gungl’s orchestra. In 1853 he became bandmaster to the 23rd Infantry Regiment at Brno, but in 1864 he moved to Munich, and in 1876 at Frankfurt, after having conducted with great success a series of promenade concerts at the Covent Garden in London in 1873. From Frankfurt, Gungl went to Weimar to live with his daughter, a well-known German opera singer, and died there. Compositions Gungl was a very prolific co

Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Joseph Heinrich Georg Hellmesberger Jr. (9 April 1855 – 26 April 1907), also known as Pepi Hellmesberger, was an Austrian composer, violinist and conductor. Biography Hellmesberger was born in Vienna and was the son of violinist and conductor Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. (1828–1893), who was his first teacher. Among his family of notable musicians were: grandfather, Georg Hellmesberger Sr. (1800–1873); uncle, Georg Hellmesberger Jr. (1830–1852); and brother, Ferdinand Hellmesberger (1863–1940). In 1875 Hellmesberger became a member of his father’s Hellmesberger Quartet, while in 1891 he became leader. In 1878 Hellmesberger became solo violinist of the Vienna Court Chapel and professor at the Vienna Conservatory. In 1890 he was the first hofkapellmeister at the Vienna Court Opera, and from 1901 to 1903 he was principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1904 and 1905 he was Kapellmeister at the Stuttgarter Hoftheater His compositions include 22 operettas, 6 ballets, dance music and lieder. Hellmesberger died of kidney failure, in Vienna at age 52. References * *Josef Hellmesberger Jr. biography at the Tribal Smile Music Encyclopedia *Josef Hellmesberger Jr. biography at aeiou Ency

Josip Hatze

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Joseph Hatze (1879–1959) was one of the first and most prominent Croatian composers at the beginning of the 20th century. Hatze was born in Split (then Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Croatia) to a family of craftsmen from Split. Whilst still at school he attended musical events, especially of sacred music and folk songs. Upon discovering his musicality, and with family support, he attended all the performances in the newly opened Municipal Theater in Split. His strong response to orchestral and choir performances in the Split theater encouraged the 16-year-old Hatze to sing at Chapel Mass. During that time he wrote “Misa a Kapela” (in Croatian text), which was performed with great success. Later other Dalmatian school choirs started performing his musical work. He completed his studies in composition in 1902 at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro in Italy with the operatic composer Pietro Mascagni. Returning home to Split, he worked as a choir teacher at the Central Technical School in Split and was the choirmaster at the choral society Zvonimir. During World War I, he was at the front, away from home, and was not aware that his wife Gilda had died of the Spanish flu. Gilda was from t

Josipina Eleonora Hudovernik

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Josipina Hudovernik, sister Marija Eleonora, (March 25, 1863 – March 1, 1945) was a Slovenian music teacher, headmistress and composer. She wrote and composed the popular Slovenian Christmas carol “Dete rajsko, Dete sveto” (Heavenly Child, Holy Child). Early life Josipina Eleonora was born on March 25, 1863 in Radovljica into a religious Slovene family. Her mother was an innkeeper, Lucija Oman, Career She studied music privately, piano with conservatory teacher Valentine Karinger and organ with Anton Foerster. She later studied singing with Berta de Pop-Stockert. She passed the special examination in singing, piano and organ with distinction in 1893. Due to her talent, she soon became a recognized organist and composer. She first worked as a music teacher at a school for girls, and later was its headmistress between 1903 and 1923, when she retired. She is credited with over 120 choral compositions, mostly written for the monastery choir and for the girls’ school. She died on March 1, 1945, in Ljubljana. Awards In 1937 she received an award for her artistic work: the Order of the Yugoslav Crown, Fifth Class. Legacy Her Christmas carol “Dete rajsko, Dete sveto” (Heavenly Child, Holy

Julie Reisserová

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Julie Reisserová née Kühnlova (9 October 1888 – 25 February 1938) was a Czech composer and music publicist. Biography Julie Reisserová was born in Prague. She studied piano with Adolf Mikeš and singing with Richard Figar. From 1919 until 1921 she studied composition in Prague with Josef Bohuslav Foerster. She continued her composition studies in Bern with Ernst Hohlfeld and with Albert Roussel (1924–1929) and Nadia Boulanger. Reisserová translated into Czech language Le testament de la tante Caroline (Aunt Caroline’s Last Will), by operetta by composer Albert Roussel and librettist Nino (Michel Veber). The operetta premiered on 14 November 1936 in Olomouc and was also staged on 18 April 1937 in Prague. She died in Prague in 1938, age 49. Selected works Notable works include: ; Orchestral music *Suite for Orchestra (), 1928–1931 *Pastorale Maritimo for Orchestra (), 1933 *Early Spring (), 1936 ; Solo piano *Esquisses, 1935 *Deux Allegros ; Vocal music *March (; orchestral songs), 1934 *Sous la neige (, ; song cycle for voice and piano), 1936 *Festive Day (; for women’s choir), 1936, dedicated to Františka Plamínková Reisserová also wrote In Margin Vitae, a book of her poems written

Julius Bittner

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Julius Bittner (born Vienna, 9 April 1874; died Vienna, 9 January 1939) was an Austrian composer. Life The son of a judge, Bittner also initially pursued a career in law. Until 1920 he was a judge in Wolkersdorf im Weinviertel, in Lower Austria. From 1920 to 1922 or 1923 he was an official in the Austrian Department of Justice. In addition, Julius Bittner became one of the best-known and most performed Austrian opera composers in the first half of the 20th century. Many of his operas deal with Austrian-Alpine themes. He usually wrote his own libretti. After the Second World War, however, as a typical representative of late Romantic opera in the tradition of Richard Wagner, he was gradually forgotten. As a leading member of Vienna’s judiciary and close friend of Gustav Mahler, he assessed Mahler’s estate for probate after his death. He later won the Mahler Prize in 1915. He composed many operas, two symphonies and many songs and was helped and promoted by Mahler and Bruno Walter. He was also a close friend of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Franz Schmidt. He was for a while editor of the Austrian music journal Der Merker Awards * 1915 Gustav Mahler Prize * 1918 Raimund Prize * 1925 City

Karel Komzák II

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Karel Komzák II (8 November 1850 – 23 April 1905) was a Bohemian-born Viennese composer famous for his dances and marches. He composed the Erzherzog-Albrecht-Marsch. Komzák was born in Prague in 1850. After training under his father, Karel Komzák I, he studied violin, musical theory, and conducting at the Prague Conservatory between 1861 and 1867. In March 1869, he joined his father’s 11th Regiment band at Linz, playing violin and baritone. When the position of bandmaster to the 7th Infantry Regiment became vacant in 1871, Komzák applied and was successful, taking up his new post at Innsbruck at the age of 21. During this period the so-called Bohemian musician became familiar with the folk music of Tyrol, and this showed its influence in the choruses he wrote for the Innsbruck Liedertafel Choir, of which he was also choirmaster. Komzák’s long-standing desire to come to Vienna was eventually fulfilled in 1882, when he was called to the capital to take over the duties of bandmaster to the 84th Infantry Regiment. It was while he was with this regiment that his fame gradually spread throughout the Austrian Empire. His congenial appearance, friendly nature and energetic conducting soon

Karel Kovařovic

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Karel Kovařovic (9 December 1862 6 December 1920) was a Czech composer and conductor from Prague. Life From 1873 to 1879 he studied clarinet, harp and piano at the Prague Conservatory. He began his career as a harpist. In 1900 Kovařovic became the conductor of the national theatre in Prague, due mostly to the success of his opera Psohlavci (The Dogheads), after the novel of the same name (about Jan Sladký Kozina) by Alois Jirásek. His engagement at the National Theatre lasted twenty years, until 1920. * 1892 Předehra dramatická (Dramatic overture) * 1900 Fantasie from the opera “Prodaná nevěsta” of Bedřich Smetana * Deux suites de ballet * Gavotta, for violin and string quartet, op. 4 * Havířská polka (Miners’ polka) from play Mr Brouček’s excursion to the Exhibition (1894) * Valčík (waltz), for chamber orchestra Works for wind band * 1911 Lustspiel Ouverture * 1914 Vzpomínky * Havířská polka Theatre Operas Ballet Incidental music * 1918 Loutkářův sirotek, melodrama – text: Svatopluk Čech “Ve stínu lípy” * Zlatý kolovrat, melodrama – text: Karel Jaromír Erben Vocal music Works for choir * 1890 Královničky; staré obřadné tance moravské se zpěvy, for women (SSAA) en piano (of harmoni

Kateřina Emingerová

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kateřina Emingerová (13 July 1856 – 9 September 1934) was a Czech composer, pianist and music educator. She was also a prolific music writer and journalist, producing numerous books, essays, reviews and articles on music. Biography Emingerová was born on 13 July 1856 in Prague, the daughter of lawyer Jan Eminger and his wife Julie Emingerová. Kateřina’s sister Helena (1858–1943) became known as a painter and graphic artist. Kateřina completed early studies under František Škroup, Bedřich Smetana, Adolf Čech, František Zdeněk Skuherský, Ludevít Procházka, Vojtěch Hřímalý, Jan Hřímalý, Josef Paleček and Viennese tenor Gustav Walter. She then studied with Josef Jiránek, Karel ze Slavkovských, Ludevít Procházka, and Jindřich Kaan. In Berlin her teacher was Karl-Heinrich Barth at the Hochschule für Musik (1882–1883). She studied composition privately with Zdeněk Fibich and Vítězslav Novák and began composing at the age of thirteen. Emingerová performed her first solo concert at age nineteen in the Konvikt concert hall. In the 1870s Emingerová began composing dances, especially polkas, which were popular at the Prague balls. She also composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, choir and s

Leo Fall

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas. Life Born in Olmütz, Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father in Berlin. His teachers in Vienna were Robert Fuchs and Johann Nepomuk Fuchs. In 1895, he began a new career as an operetta conductor in Hamburg and started to compose. From 1904 onwards, he devoted himself to composition. While less successful than his contemporary Franz Lehár, he was nevertheless capable of producing melodious and well-orchestrated work. After working in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne, he settled in Vienna in 1906, where he died. He is buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery. His brothers and Richard were also composers; both were murdered in the Nazi concentration camps. His best-known operettas in the English-speaking world are The Dollar Princess and Madame Pompadour, which had successful runs in London and New York and remained in the repertory in Germany and Austria throughout the 20th century. (1912; Princess Caprice in London) is reported

Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský () (17 July 1870 in Vienna – 27 October 1931 in Prague) was a Czech conductor and composer. He was founder and first principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Biography Jan Čelanský, Ludvík’s father, worked as a kapellmeister in Horní Krupá (Havlíčkův Brod district). Ludvík studied at the gymnasium in Havlíčkův Brod, and from 1887 to 1891 at the teaching institute in Kutná Hora. He worked as a teacher in Dolní Krupá for one year before devoting himself exclusively to music. From 1892 to 1894 he studied composition with K. Stecker at the Prague Conservatory, then at the dramatic school of the National Theatre and at Pivoda Operatic School. Orchestra *Premiéra na vsi (Premiere in the Countryside), Overture (1900) *Vzkříšení Polsky (Resurrection of Poland), Overture (1904) * Symphony “From My Life” in five movements *Duchovní vývoj člověka dle starého zákona (The Spiritual Evolution of Man According to Ancient Law), Symphonic Trilogy (1915–1918) :# Adam :# Noe (Noah) :# Mojžíš (Moses) *Hymnus slunci (Hymn to the Sun), Symphonic Poem (1919) Songs *Nálady (Moods) (1895); words by the composer *Melancholické písně (Melancholic Songs) (1895); words

Ludwig Minkus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ludwig Minkus (), also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus (23 March 1826 – 7 December 1917), was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violinist and teacher of music. Minkus is noted for the music he composed during his career in St. Petersburg, Russia. Beginning in 1871 Minkus served in the official post of Composer of Ballet Music to the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, a position he held until it was abolished upon his retirement in 1886. During his long career in St. Petersburg, Minkus composed for the original works and revivals staged by the ballet masters Arthur Saint-Léon and Marius Petipa. Among the composer’s most celebrated compositions is his score for La source (1866; composed jointly with Léo Delibes), Don Quixote (1869); and La Bayadère (1877). Minkus composed many pieces for older works. The most well-known of Minkus’s additional music is the Grand Pas classique and Mazurka des enfants composed for Petipa’s 1881 revival of Paquita. Early life Ludwig Minkus was born Aloysius Bernhard Philipp Minkus on 23 March 1826, in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire. His father, Theodor Johann Minkus, was born in 1795 in Groß-Meseritsch, Mora

Marija Hladnik Berden

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marija Hladnik Berden, also known as Mimi Hladnik (30 March 1892 – 10 May 1924), was a Slovenian teacher, organist, and composer. She was regarded as one of the most musically gifted women of her generation in Lower Carniola, where she worked as a teacher, church organist, soprano, and pianist. She composed mainly church music, appeared as a soloist, and in addition to her regular employment also taught piano. Her life ended tragically when she was poisoned at the age of thirty-two. Childhood and education She was born on 30 March 1892 into a Slovenian family in Novo Mesto, where she was baptised on 2 April in the Novo Mesto Cathedral. At the time of her birth, her father held the poorly paid post of chapter organist. Because of this, he had the right to use a small plot of church-owned farmland, which he cultivated together with her mother, whose parents were farmers. Of her surviving sisters, one devoted herself to teaching, another, Štefanija Hladnik Hanak, was employed as a piano teacher and founded the Ignacij Hladnik Music School in Novo Mesto, while another was a milliner. Of all the children, she was the most musically gifted and therefore her father’s favourite. Her classm

Max Josef Beer

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Max Josef Beer (25 August 1851 – 25 November 1908 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer. Max Josef Beer studied with Felix Otto Dessoff and at a very young age received a commission from the Austrian government for the compositions Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Auferweckung des Lazarus, and a number of songs. On 15 February 1871, his opera seria in four acts, Elizabeth of Hungary, premiered at Milan’s La Scala, starring Elisabetta Sternberg (soprano), Louis Auguste Arsandaux (tenor), Jean-Louis Lasalle (baritone) and Joseph-Victor Warot (bass). Beer also wrote Der Streik der Schmiede, a verismo one-act opera, which unsuccessfully premiered at Augsburg, 1897. He died in Vienna at age 57 and was buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery. Other compositions *Fünf Minnelieder for pianoforte *Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme for voice with piano accompaniment *Eichendorffiana, 9 piano pieces *Ghazals, 6 piano pieces *Lyrisches Intermezzo, four impressions for piano *Sturm und Stille, 6 songs based on poems by C. Stögmann, Oskar von Redwitz, Heinrich Heine, Friedrich Rückert *Des Sängers Fluch, after Ludwig Uhland, for declamation with piano accompaniment *Ein Fastnachtsmärchen, 8 Carnival pieces for

Mikuláš Moyzes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mikuláš Moyzes (born December 6, 1872; died April 2, 1944) was a Slovak composer, organist and pedagogue. As a young man, he worked in various parts of Transleithania, in what is now Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. At the age of twenty he became an organist in Eger and two years later an organist and music teacher in Oradea. Later he became a professor of music at the teacher training institute in Čurgov, in Kláštor pod Znievom and in Prešov. He was active in the cultural and social sphere of Prešov for 36 years, from his arrival in 1908 until his death in 1944. A marble monument in the shape of a lyre was erected in his memory in Prešov. He is considered a direct predecessor of Slovak musical modernity. Life Moyzes was born into a family of teachers in Zvolenská Slatina in 1872. At the age of three, he relocated with his family to Divín, where he was first introduced to music. Later on, he completed his high school education in Banská Bystrica and Revúcá, and upon finishing high school, he opted for a teacher training institute in Kláštor pod Znievom. In 1895, the age of twenty, he became an organist in Eger. In 1908, Moyzes moved to Prešov to study at the State Teachers’ Institute

Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský KSG (24 May 1881, Trnava – 28 May 1958, Bratislava) was a Slovak composer, conductor and pedagogue. He was popular mostly because of his songs, some becoming traditional. Life In 1900, he passed his maturita exam in Trnava. From 1900 to 1901, he studied composition at the Budapestian conservatory with Hans von Koessler. From 1901 to 1903, he studied at the conservatory in Vienna with Hermann Graedener. Finally, from 1903 to 1905, he studied organ playing in Prague with Josef Klička and composition with Carl Stecker. After his studies, he became regenschori in Zrenjanin, Serbia. In 1908, he performed together with Czech barytonist Bohumír Nepomucký on the concert tour through Europe. After returning to Trnava, in 1909, he became regenschori at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Trnava and remained at this post until his death. Works His most known achievement is a compilation of Catholic songs Jednotný katolícky spevník (Standard Catholic hymnbook) created on demand by Spolok svätého Vojtecha (St. Vojtech Society). It was published in 1937 after about fifteen years of work and contains over 500 songs, nearly half of them auctorial. Some of the songs were take

Nicolae Bretan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nicolae Bretan (; 25 March 1887 – 1 December 1968) In 1916, he received a degree in law at the University of Cluj. In addition to composing, Bretan held various positions as baritone singer, actor, stage director, and director-general. He made his professional debut as a singer in 1913 in Bratislava, continuing to roles in Oradea and at the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, where he served as first baritone from 1922 to 1940. Over his career he performed works by Verdi, Gounod, Bizet, Puccini, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Delibes, and Rossini. Bretan also worked as a translator of libretti, translating his own Luceafărul into Hungarian and Golem into Romanian and German. In 1915 Bretan married pianist Nora Osvát. Together they had two children: (baritone) and Judit (actor and educator). In 1944, Osvát’s family, who were Jewish, were transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp and murdered. Refusing to become a member of the Romanian Communist Party in 1948, he was not favoured by the Romanian communist regime, who treated the composer as a “non-person”. Biographer Hartmut Gagelmann attributes Bretan’s lack of wider recognition to censorship by the Communist Party of Romania, though this claim

Norbert Glanzberg

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Norbert Glanzberg (né Nathan Glanzberg; 12 October 1910 – 25 February 2001) was a Galician-born French composer. Mostly a composer of film music and songs, he was also notable for some famous songs of Édith Piaf. In his twenties he lived in Germany, where he began his career scoring films for directors including Billy Wilder and Max Ophüls. When the Nazi regime came to power there in 1933, he, as a Jew, fled to Paris, where he performed in nightclubs under bandleaders such as Django Reinhardt, which is where he first met Piaf. At different times from 1939 to 1945 he toured with Piaf, when he wrote many of her songs and accompanied her on piano when she sang. For many of those years they were lovers, and Piaf saved his life on more than one occasion by hiding him from both the French Vichy police, who were helping the Nazis round up Jews for deportation, and later from the Nazi occupiers themselves. After the war he continued writing film scores for French films along with composing classical music, which included works and songs from Berlin and romantic classics. At the end of his career he wrote a concerto for two pianos in 1985 which was inspired by the novels of Isaac Bashevis S

Oscar Straus (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Oscar Nathan Straus (6 March 1870 – 11 January 1954) was a Viennese composer of operettas, film scores, and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs, chamber music, and orchestral and choral works. His original name was actually Strauss, but for professional purposes he deliberately omitted the final ’s’. He wished not to be associated with the musical Strauss family of Vienna. However, he did follow the advice of Johann Strauss II in 1898 about abandoning the prospective lure of writing waltzes for the more lucrative business of writing for the theatre. The son of a Jewish family, he studied music in Berlin under Max Bruch, and became an orchestral conductor, working at the Überbrettl cabaret. He went back to Vienna and began writing operettas, becoming a serious rival to Franz Lehár. When Lehár’s popular The Merry Widow premiered in 1905, Straus was said to have remarked “Das kann ich auch!” (I can also do that!). In 1939, after the Anschluss, he fled to Paris, where he received the honour of a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur. In 1940 he fled via Portugal to the United States, where he settled in Hollywood. After the war he returned to Europe, and settled at Bad Ischl, wher

Osvald Chlubna

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Osvald Chlubna (22 July 1893 – 30 October 1971) was a Czech composer. Life and career Chlubna was born on 22 July 1893 in Brno. Intending originally to study engineering, Chlubna switched his major and from 1914 to 1924, he studied composition with Leoš Janáček. Until 1953, he worked as a clerk. Later, he taught at the Organ School in Brno for many years. He worked in many art organisations in Brno. Chlubna’s works can be defined by three distinct periods: Romanticism, Impressionism, all the way to the Modern Constructivism. He delved into Symbolism as well. He used the texts of symbolic Czech poets, such as Otakar Březina, Jaroslav Vrchlický, Jaroslav Durych and others. He wrote several cycles of compositions for piano and organ, as well as instrumental concerts, symphonies, ouvertures and cantatas. He wrote many operas, often using his own librettos, such as The Revenge of Catullus based on the work of Vrchlický (1917), Alladina and Palomid (based on the work of Maeterlinck, 1925), Ňura (1932), How the Death came in the World (1936), Jiří from Kunštát and Poděbrady (based on the work of Alois Jirásek, 1941), Cradle (composed on the work of Jirásek, 1951), Eupyros (1960). He also

Otilie Suková

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Otilie Suková, also known as Otilie Suková-Dvořáková (née Otilie Dvořáková; 6 June 1878 – 5 July 1905), was a Czech pianist and composer. She was the daughter of composer Antonín Dvořák and the wife of violinist and Dvořák’s pupil Josef Suk the Elder. Life Youth Otilie Dvořáková was born on 6 June 1878 in New Town quarter of Prague, into the Dvořák family: Antonín Dvořák and his wife Anna Dvořáková, a musician and Dvořák’s former pupil. She had siblings Otakar and Magdalena, a talented opera singer. Already in her childhood, she was an excellent pianist with her father’s support, and she graduated from a girls’ high school in Prague. She also attended his family’s stays in the United States and England from 1892 to 1894, growing up in an exceptionally rich cultural and artistic environment of her time. She also composed several short piano pieces. Marriage to Josef Suk After returning to Bohemia, she met and eventually developed a deep emotional relationship with one of her father’s students, Josef Suk, whom she married in Prague on 17 November 1898. He dedicated several of his compositions to her and she also inspired him to create the scenic fairy tale Radúz and Mahulena to a lib

Ottokar Nováček

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ottokar Eugen Nováček (13 May 1866 – 3 February 1900) was an Austro-Hungarian violinist, violist and composer of Czech descent. He is perhaps best known for his work Perpetuum Mobile (Perpetual Motion), written in 1895. Life Nováček was born at Weißkirchen (, ), southern Austrian Empire (today Serbia). He studied successfully with his father Martin Joseph Nováček, with Jakob Dont in Vienna (1880–83), and with Henry Schradieck and Brodsky at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he won the Mendelssohn Prize in 1885. He played in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and in the Brodsky Quartet, originally as second violin and later as viola. He subsequently immigrated to the United States, where he was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Arthur Nikisch (1891) and was appointed principal viola in the Damrosch Orchestra, New York (189293). He also played in the re-formed Brodsky Quartet. In 1899, after a heart condition forced him to retire from playing, he devoted himself to composition. His works include a piano concerto (1894, dedicated to, and first performed by, Ferruccio Busoni), Perpetuum mobile (Perpetual Motion) for violin and orchestra (1895), three string quartets (publishe

Paul Abraham

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Paul Abraham (; 2 November 1892 – 6 May 1960) was a Jewish-Hungarian composer of operettas, who scored major successes in the German-speaking world. Abraham was born in Apatin, Austria-Hungary (today Serbia), and studied at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest from 1910 to 1916. He studied cello with Adolf Schiffer and composition with Viktor Herzfeld. Career Abraham was a son of Jakab Ábrahám (c. 1859–1909) – who was a merchant from Apatin, later head of a small private bank – and Flóra Blau (1872–1943), who came from Mohács (South-Hungary, next to Danube). Like many other composers of operettas, Abraham started with works of a serious nature. During the decade following his studies he wrote, among other things, sacred music, string quartets and a concerto for violoncello. When he was appointed conductor at the Budapest Operetta Theatre in 1927 he found his way to this more popular art form which was more suited to his talent. He wrote his first operetta, Der Gatte des Fräuleins, in 1928. With his third, Viktoria und ihr Husar (1930), he achieved a resounding success. Through this work, and the next two operettas from 1931 and 1933 Die Blume von Hawaii (The Fl

Pavel Bořkovec

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pavel Bořkovec (10 June 1894 – 22 July 1972) was a Czech composer and music teacher. Life Bořkovec was born on 10 June 1894 in Prague. He studied at the Prague Conservatory under Josef Suk. From 1946 to 1967 he taught at the Academy of Musical Arts in Prague. His students there included Pavel Blatný, Jiří Pauer, Vladimír Sommer, Petr Eben, Jan Klusák and Jan Truhlář. Among his compositions are two operas, two piano concertos, a concerto grosso, a ballet, and five string quartets. His work was also part of the music event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Bořkovec died on 22 July 1972 in Prague. Selected works ;Stage * Krysař, Ballet-Pantomime in 2 scenes (1939) * Paleček, Opera (1959) * Satyr, Opera after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1942) ;Orchestra * Concerto for cello and orchestra (1952) * Concerto No.1 for piano and orchestra (1931) * Concerto No.2 for piano and orchestra (1949–1950) * Concerto for Violin and Orchestra * Concerto grosso (1942) * Partita per grande orchestra (1936) * Sinfonietta in uno movimento (1967–1968) * Symphony No.1, Op.6 * Symphony No.2 (1955) * Symphony No.3 (1959) ;Chamber music * Dva tance, Tango a Menuet (2 Dances, Tango and Minuet)

Pavel Haas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pavel Haas (21 June 189917 October 1944) was a Czech composer who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was an exponent of Leoš Janáček’s school of composition, and also utilized elements of folk music and jazz. Although his output was not large, he is notable particularly for his song cycles and string quartets. Pre-war Haas was born in Brno, into a Moravian-Jewish family. His father, Zikmund, a shoemaker by trade, was from the Moravian region, while his mother, Olga (née Epstein), was born in Odesa. His brother, Hugo Haas (1901–1968), was a popular actor in interwar Czechoslovakia. After studying piano privately, Haas began his more formal musical education at the age of 14 and studied composition at the Brno Conservatory from 1919 to 1921 under Jan Kunc and Vilém Petrželka. This was followed by two years of study in the master class of the noted Czech composer Leoš Janáček. Janáček was by far Haas’s most influential teacher, and Haas, in turn, proved to be Janáček’s best student. In 1935, he married Soňa Jakobson, the former wife of Russian linguist Roman Jakobson. Of the more than 50 works Haas wrote during the rest of his life, only 18 were given opus numbers by the self-criti

Rafael Joseffy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rafael Joseffy (July 3, 1852 – June 25, 1915) was a Hungarian Jewish pianist, teacher and composer. Life Rafael Joseffy was born in Hunfalu, Szepes County (now Huncovce, Slovakia) in 1852. His youth was spent in Miskolc, and he began his study of the piano there at the age of eight. He studied in Budapest with Friedrich Brauer, the teacher of Stephen Heller. In 1866, he went to Leipzig, where his teachers were Ignaz Moscheles and Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel. In 1868, he became a pupil of Karl Tausig in Berlin, remaining with him for two years. Later he spent two summers with Franz Liszt in Weimar. He made his debut in Berlin in 1872 and was immediately acclaimed as a master pianist of great brilliance. He moved to the United States in 1879, where he lived in New York City. Joseffy made his American debut in New York in 1879, with an orchestra under Leopold Damrosch. He soon after played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and subsequently made many appearances in New York and other American cities with Theodore Thomas and the Theodore Thomas Orchestra. In December 1889 he was a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Arthur Nikisch for the grand opening of Lincoln Music H

Ralph Benatzky

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ralph Benatzky (5 June 1884 – 16 October 1957) was a Czech-Austrian composer. He composed operas and operettas, such as Casanova (1928), Die drei Musketiere (1929), The White Horse Inn (1930) and Meine Schwester und ich (1930). Life He was born Rudolf Josef František (Rudolph Josef Franz) Benatzky on 5 June 1884 in Moravské Budějovice, Moravia, Austria-Hungary. He was born to a Czech mother and ethnically German father, who taught at a German school. From 1899, he studied at a real school in Litoměřice, but was soon expelled. He continued his studies in Vienna. He graduated from German studies at the University of Vienna and received a doctorate in music at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. He was a pupil of Antonín Dvořák. His first job after his studies was as a conductor and kapellmeister in Munich, and in the following years he worked in several small cabarets, for which he wrote songs, lyrics and smaller operettas. In 1914, he became the director of the Rideamus cabaret in Vienna. In 1913, his first full-length operetta Der lachende Dreibund premiered in Berlin, but it was not until the operetta Liebe im Schnee, which premiered in Vienna in 1916, that he achie

Rudolf Dellinger

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rudolf Dellinger (8 July 1857 – 24 September, 1910) was a German Bohemian composer and Kapellmeister. He almost exclusively composed operettas and was considered to be among the most outstanding composers of his time. Born into a family of Bohemian of instrument makers in Graslitz, Dellinger received musical tuition early in life. He studied at the School of Music in Prague between 1874 and 1879, and later at the Prague Conservatory, where he was taught piano by, among others, Julius Pisarowitz. After completing his musical education, he took a position as a clarinettist in Brno in 1880, then worked as a Kapellmeister in Passau, Eger, Prague and Salzburg. In 1883, Dellinger moved to Hamburg, where he worked at the Carl-Schultze-Theater. He wrote his first operettas there, which also premiered in Hamburg. On 2 February 1886, Dellinger married Anna Maria Eppich, an Austrian singer. In 1893, Dellinger was employed as Kapellmeister of the Residenztheater in Dresden, where he worked until his death at the age of 53. Works Dellinger’s oeuvre includes: * 1885: Don Cesar – libretto by Otto Walther, adapted from Don César de Bazan by Philippe Dumanoir and Adolphe d’Ennery * 1886: Lorraine –

Rudolf Karel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rudolf Karel (9 November 1880 – 6 March 1945) was a distinguished Czech composer. Biography Rudolf Karel was a son of a railway employee. He studied law at Charles University and then composition from 1899 to 1904 with Antonín Dvořák and organ with Josef Klička. When WWI started he was visiting Russia. He was arrested, but managed to escape. He joined Czechoslovak Legions and served as a conductor of their orchestra. In 1923 he became a professor at Prague Conservatory. During WWII he took part in the resistance and in March 1943 was arrested. After being interned and tortured at Pankrác prison for two years (1943–1945) Karel was sent to Theresienstadt prison. The conditions in the prison were dire and he became ill with dysentery and pneumonia. SS-Oberscharführer Stefan Rojko sent all ill prisoners outside in freezing cold to disinfect the cell. As a result Karel and 8 other prisoners died on 6 March 1945. Ih Pankrác and Theresienstadt he continued working. He composed five-act fairy-tale opera Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man, writing on toilet paper using pencil or medicinal charcoal. The 240 sheets containing a detailed sketch of the opera was secretly passed to a friendly warde

Rudolph von Procházka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rudolph Freiherr von Procházka (23 February 1864 – 24 March 1936) was a Czech lawyer, composer and music writer. He wrote under the pseudonym Leon Elms. Life Born in Prague (where he also died), he was from an old noble and landed family from the Czech lands. Even as a child he showed talent for music and poetry. He studied composition, violin and law in Prague. After initially working from 1888 in Eger and Asch, he held a variety of official positions in his home town. He was the founder and first president of the German Musical Academy. In 1893 he married singer and singing teacher Tonia Baronin Procházka, with whom he had Roman von Procházka. In 1910 he was appointed state music officer, as well as becoming vice president of the Royal and Imperial Examination Commission for Secondary School Music Teaching., government representative on the working committee for German folk songs in Bohemia, member of the panel of music experts in Prague and an active member of the Association for the Promotion of Music (Verein zur Förderung der Tonkunst). He was also a ministerial counsellor, royal-imperial district captain, officer with stadtholder-decree and a commissioner of the Cheb district

Srećko Albini

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Srećko (Felix) Albini (10 December 1869 – 18 April 1933) was a Croatian composer, conductor, and music publisher. He was primarily known for his operettas, some of which were adapted into English and performed in London and New York. Life and career Albini was born in Županja. He trained in music in Vienna and in Graz, but at the wishes of his family also graduated from a business college. His first engagement as a conductor was for the municipal theatres in Graz, where he worked from 1893 to 1895. He then became a conductor at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, where he remained for the next eight years and composed his first stage work, the three-act opera Maričon. Set to a libretto by Milan Smrekar, it had a nationalistic theme and incorporated traditional Croatian folk music and dances. Maričon premiered at the Croatian National Theatre in 1901 and received a very favourable review from Die Musik. The National Theatre’s resident opera company suspended its activities between 1903 and 1909, and Albini moved to Vienna, where he continued composing and conducting. He returned to the National Theatre in 1909, serving there as both a conductor and a stage director until 1919.

Stanislav Lyudkevych

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stanislav Pylypovych Lyudkevych (, , ; 24 January 1879 – 10 September 1979 ) was a Ukrainian and Soviet composer, theorist, teacher and musical activist. He was a People’s Artist of the USSR (1969) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1979). Biography Lyudkevych was born in 1879 in Jarosław, Austria-Hungary (now Poland). From 1897 to 1901 Lyudkevych studied philosophy at Lviv University. During this time he also studied on his own at the Conservatory of Galician Music Society in Lviv under Mieczysław Sołtys. Starting in 1901, Lyudkevych worked as a teacher in Lviv and Przemyśl. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in musicology in Vienna in 1908, learning from O. Tsemlinsky and H. Hredener. and from 1919, teacher of theoretical disciplines and inspector of legal entities. He worked with the choirs Boyan, Bandurist, Surma. In 1936, Lyudkevych became head of the musicological commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. From 1939 until 1972, he was a professor in the institute named after Mykola Lysenko. He died on September 10, 1979, in Lviv, aged 100. * 1949 – Order of the Red Banner of Labour * Lviv Art College is named after S. Ludkevych as well as streets in Lviv, Stryi, Pustomyty and

Sydir Vorobkevych

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sydir Ivanovych Vorobkevych (, ; 17 May 183631 September 1903), was a Ukrainian composer, writer, Eastern Orthodox priest, teacher, and artist. During his career he was the editor of the Austrian newspaper . Early life and education Sydir Ivanovych Vorobkevych was born on 17 May 1836 (O.S.) in Chernivtsi (now in western Ukraine). Vorobkevych’s mother, Elizabeta Corlătean, was an ethnic Romanian, being the daughter of the Protopope of Câmpulung Moldovenesc. Sydir’s paternal great-grandfather, Skalsky Mlaka de Orobko, ran away from Lithuania, and his grandfather changed his name from Orobko to Vorobkevych. He later used part of the former name as part of one of his pen-names, Danilo Mlaka. His mother died in 1840, and his father Ivan worked in the Chernivtsi Lyceum as a professor of religion and philosophy. After father died in 1845. the 9-year-old Sydir, along with his brother Hryhoriy, were left as orphans. They were then brought up by their grandfather, Mykhailo Vorobkevych, the Protopope of Kitsman. In his family the young boy learned Ukrainian folklore and history. He enrolled in the Chernivtsi Lyceum and later the Theology Seminary in Chernivtsi, graduating in 1861. After his t

Václav Kaprál

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Václav Kaprál (26 March 1889 – 6 April 1947) was a Czech composer, pianist and pedagogue. Life Kaprál was born on 26 March 1889 in Určice. He studied composition with Leoš Janáček in the Brno Organ School (1908–1910) and with Vítězslav Novák (1919–1920) in Prague. Later, he studied piano interpretation with Alfred Cortot in Paris (1923–1924). Kaprál composed about fifty opuses, mainly solo piano, vocal, and chamber music. He was the father of Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová. He died on 6 April 1947 in Brno. Works Orchestral music *Svatební pochod for orchestra (1923) *Dve idylky for orchestra (1931) *Smuteční fanfáry for brass orchestra (1945) Chamber music *String Quartet in C Minor (1925) *String Quartet No. 2 with Baritone Solo, on text by R. Bojko (1927) *Píseň podzimu. Voice and string quartet (1929) *Balada. Violoncello and piano (1946) Solo piano *Lyrica (1907–1915) *Sonata I in C Major (1912) *Nocturne (1915) *Berceuses de Printemps (1916–1917) *Suita Romantica (1918) *Sonata II (1921) *Miniatures (1922) *Sonata III (1924) *Con duolo, piano cycle for left hand (1926) *Radostné chvíle (1927) *Sonatina (1930) *Fantazie (1934) *Dumka (1936) *Sonatina Bucolica (1936) *Mencu

Václav Suk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Václav Suk (16 November 186112 January 1933) was an Austrian-born violinist, conductor and composer who operated in the Russian Empire. He was also known as Váša Suk, Vyacheslav Suk, Vyacheslav Ivanovich (Вячеслав Иванович Сук) and Vjačeslav Ivanovič Suk. Biography Suk was born in Kladno, Bohemia, Austrian Empire. He is said to have been related to the composer Joseph Suk. From 1873 to 1879 Suk studied violin at the Prague Conservatory as a pupil of Antonín Bennewitz. Concurrently he studied also counterpoint with Josef Krejčí, and, privately, composition with Zdeněk Fibich. In 1880 he went to Warsaw as a violinist in the Warsaw Philharmonic, but a short while later he was already engaged as a concert master in the Imperial Orchestra of Kiev (from 1880 to 1882). In 1885 his career as an opera conductor began with the Philharmonic Society in Moscow, where from 1882 he had served as a violinist with the Bolshoi orchestra, but he proved his abilities as kapellmeister of the opera in Kharkiv (1885–1886). Tchaikovsky recommended him to Saint Petersburg, but Suk went to Taganrog instead, where he began to also conduct symphonic works. His later employment with a private opera orchestra i

Vítězslava Kaprálová

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vítězslava Kaprálová (; 24 January 1915 – 16 June 1940) was a Czech composer and conductor of 20th-century classical music. Life and career Vítězslava Kaprálová was born in Brno, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic), a daughter of composer Václav Kaprál and singer Vítězslava Kaprálová (née Viktorie Uhlířová). From 1930 to 1935 she studied composition with Vilém Petrželka and conducting with Zdeněk Chalabala at the Brno Conservatory. She continued her musical education with Vítězslav Novák (1935–37) and Václav Talich (1935–36) in Prague and with Bohuslav Martinů, Charles Munch (1937–39) and, according to some unverified accounts, with Nadia Boulanger (1940) in Paris. In 1937 she conducted the Czech Philharmonic and a year later the BBC Orchestra in her composition Military Sinfonietta. Her husband was the Czech writer Jiří Mucha, whom she married two months before she died. Despite her untimely death, which may have been caused by typhoid fever, in Montpellier, France at the age of 25, Kaprálová created an impressive body of work. Her music was admired by Rafael Kubelík, who premiered her orchestral song Waving Farewell and also conducted her other orchestral works. Amo

Zdeněk Fibich

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Zdeněk Fibich (, 21 December 1850 in Všebořice – 15 October 1900 in Prague) was a Czech composer of classical music. Among his compositions are chamber works (including two string quartets, a piano trio, piano quartet and a quintet for piano, strings and winds), symphonic poems, three symphonies, at least seven operas (the most famous probably Šárka and The Bride of Messina), melodramas including the substantial trilogy Hippodamia, liturgical music including a mass – a missa brevis; and a large cycle (a total of 376 pieces, from the 1890s) of piano works called Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences. The piano cycle served as a diary of sorts of his love for a piano pupil, and one of the pieces formed the basis for the short instrumental work Poème, for which Fibich is best remembered today. Early life and education That Fibich is far less known than either Antonín Dvořák or Bedřich Smetana can be explained by the fact that he lived during the rise of Czech nationalism within the Habsburg Empire. While Smetana and Dvořák gave themselves over entirely to the national cause, consciously writing Czech music with which the emerging nation strongly identified, Fibich’s position was more