Jaromír Weinberger

Jaromír Weinberger (January 8, 1896 – August 8, 1967) was a Czech American composer.

Biography

Weinberger was born in Prague, from a family of Jewish origin. He heard Czech folksongs from time spent at his grandparents' farm as a youth.Kushner, David Z., "Jaromir Weinberger (1896-1967): From Bohemia to America" (Autumn 1988). "American Music", 6 (3): pp. 293-313.] He started to play the piano at age 5, and was composing and conducting by age 10. He began musical studies with Jaroslav Křička. Later teachers included Václav Talich and Rudolf Karel. He became at student at the Prague Conservatory at age 14, as a second-year student. There, he studied composition with Vítězslav Novák and Karel Hoffmeister. Later, at Leipzig, he studied with Max Reger and assumed into his own technique Reger's immense grasp of counterpoint. Between 1922 and 1926 he was professor of composition at the Ithaca Conservatory (currently Music School of Ithaca College), New York.

In 1939, after extensive travels to the United States, Bratislava, and Vienna, he fled his native country to escape the Nazis and settled in New York State, teaching there and in Ohio. He wrote a number of works on commission from American orchestras. He became an American citizen in 1948.

During the 1950s, Weinberger moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. In later life, he developed cancer of the brain. This, together with money worries and the neglect of his music, prompted him to take a lethal drug overdose in August 1967. His wife, Hansi Lemberger Weinberger (also known as Jane), survived him until her death on 31 July 1968.

Major works

Weinberger composed over 100 works, including operas, operettas, choral works, and works for orchestra. However, the only one which is still remembered is the opera "Schwanda the Bagpiper" ("Švanda dudák"), a world-wide success after its première in 1927. The opera is still performed occasionally, and the "Polka and Fugue" from it is often heard in a concert version.

Opera

* "Schwanda the Bagpiper" ("Švanda dudák")
* "Die Geliebte Stimme"
* "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"
* "Wallenstein"

Operetta

* "Frühlingsstürme"

Orchestral

* "Passacaglia for Orchestra and Organ"
* "Ouverture zum einen Ritterlichen Spiel"
* "Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree" (Variations and Fugue)
* "Song of the High Seas"
* "Prelude and Fugue on a Southern Folktune"
* "Czech Rhapsody"
* "Lincoln Symphony"
* "Saratoga" (ballet)
* "Préludes Réligieux et Profanes"

Instrumental

* "6 Czech Songs and Dances"
* "Ten Characteristic Solos" (drum with piano)
* "Bible Poems" (organ)
* "Sonata" for organ
* "Four Sonatinas" (clarinet, bassoon, oboe, flute and piano)
* "Dedications - Five Preludes for Organ"
* "Colloque sentimental - Prélude d'après le poème de Paul Verlaine" (1920) - Arr. for Cello and Piano František Brikcius - premiere 2007
* "Une Cantilène jalouse (1920)" - Arr. for Cello and Piano František Brikcius - premiere 2007

Vocal works

* "Psalm 150"
* "Ecclesiastes"
* "Of Divine Work"
* Five Songs from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn"

References

External links

* [http://www.bartleby.com/65/we/Weinbergr.html Short biography]
* [http://www.brikcius.com/Projects.uk.Weinberger.html Short biography]