Biography

Weinberger was born in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, from a family of Jewish origin. He heard Czech folksongs from time spent at his grandparents' farm as a youth. He started to play the piano at age 5, and was composing and conducting by age 10. He began musical studies with Jaroslav Křička

Jaroslav Kricka

Jaroslav Křička was a Czech composer.He was born in Kelč and died in Prague.In 1936 he won a bronze medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his "Mountain Suite".-External links:*...

. Later teachers included Václav Talich

Václav Talich

Václav Talich was a Czech conductor, violinist and pedagogue.- Life :Born in Kroměříž, Moravia, he started his musical career in a student orchestra in Klatovy. From 1897 to 1903 he studied at the conservatory in Prague with Otakar Ševčík...

 and Rudolf Karel

Rudolf Karel

Rudolf Karel was a distinguished Czech composer.-Brief Biography:Rudolf Karel was son of a poor railway employee. He studied composition from 1899 to 1904 with Antonín Dvořák and organ with Josef Klička in Prague...

. He became a student at the Prague Conservatory

Prague Conservatory

Prague Conservatory, sometimes also Prague Conservatoire, in Czech Pražská konzervatoř, is a Czech secondary school in Prague dedicated to teaching the arts of music and theater acting.- Instruction :...

 at age 14, as a second-year student. There, he studied composition with Vítězslav Novák

Vítezslav Novák

Vítězslav Novák was one of the most well-respected Czech composers and pedagogues, almost singlehandedly founding a mid-century Czech school of composition...

 and Karel Hoffmeister. Later, at Leipzig, he studied with Max Reger

Max Reger

Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...

 and assumed into his own technique Reger's immense grasp of counterpoint

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

. In September 1922, almost inexplicably, Weinberger moved to the United States where he took up a position as an instructor at Cornell University. Between 1922 and 1926 he was professor of composition at the Ithaca Conservatory (currently Music School of Ithaca College

Ithaca College

Ithaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is...

), New York.

When he returned to Czechoslovakia he was appointed director of the National Theater in Bratislava

Slovak National Theatre

The Slovak National Theatre denotes:* the oldest Slovak professional theatre consisting of 3 ensembles ,* a Neo-Renaissance theatre building in the Old Town of Bratislava, Slovakia, which formerly housed two of the theatre's ensembles , and* the theatre's large modern theatre building in...

, and later received appointments in Eger

Eger

Eger is the second largest city in Northern Hungary, the county seat of Heves, east of the Mátra Mountains. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings , and red and white wines.- Name :...

, Hungary, and Prague. In 1926 Weinberger completed Švanda Dudák (Schwanda the Bagpiper) which became one of the most popular operatic works between the wars, with thousands of performances in hundreds of theaters including the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 in New York City. Although none of his subsequent European works captured audiences as Švanda Dudák had, such pieces as the Passacaglia for orchestra and organ, Six Bohemian Dances for violin and piano, the opera The Outcasts of Poker Flat and a grand oratorio Christmas reveal a versatile composer, making use of the widest variety of materials and approaches.

In 1939, after extensive travels to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

, and Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, he fled his native country to escape the Nazis

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 and settled in New York State, teaching there and in Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. 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

St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...

. In later life, he developed cancer of the brain

Brain tumor

A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...

. 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

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 Schwanda the Bagpiper (Švanda dudák), a worldwide 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. It was once considered by the artists of the Walt Disney studio to be made into a Fantasia segment for Fantasia 2000

Fantasia 2000

Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was the 38th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and a sequel to 1940's Fantasia...

, but lost out to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major

Piano Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich)

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102, by Dmitri Shostakovich was composed in 1957 for his son Maxim's 19th birthday. Maxim premiered the piece during his graduation at the Moscow Conservatory...

, in the form of Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...

's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

"The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier's love for a paper ballerina. After several adventures, the tin soldier perishes in a fire with the ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A...

".

It can be argued that Weinberger used a varied musical language. His studies in Prague and Leipzig stressed formal control and contrapuntal mastery; his teachers, Křička, Novák and Reger were concerned with a certain professional polish and control, but they were also somewhat playful, and that combination can be found in Weinberger's works. These were aspects of his output that alternately received critical acclaim (when they were regarded as somehow genuine) and also set the composer up for a good deal of criticism (when they were thought to be either too automatic or insufficiently profound). It is fair to say that, with the exception of Švanda Dudák, Weinberger frustrated his critics even as he pleased them.

List of works

Opera and operetta

• Schwanda the Bagpiper (Švanda dudák), Opera in 2 acts (1926); libretto by Miloš Kareš after Josef Kajetán Tyl
  Josef Kajetán Tyl
  Josef Kajetán Tyl was a significant Czech dramatist, writer and actor. He was a notable figure of the Czech National Revival movement and is best known as the author of the current national anthem of the Czech Republic titled Kde domov můj.-Life:Josef Kajetán Tyl was the first-born son of Jiří...
  
  
• Milovaný hlas (The Beloved Voice; Die Geliebte Stimme), Opera in 3 acts (1930); libretto by the composer after the 1928 novel by Robert Michel
• Lidé z Pokerflatu (The Outcasts of Poker Flat), Opera (1932); libretto by Miloš Kareš after the 1869 short story
  The Outcasts of Poker Flat
  "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" is a short story written by renowned author of the American West Bret Harte. This story is a good example of regionalism and local color during the Gilded Generation. His compelling combination of realism and sentimentality offers readers real and known characters, yet...
  
   by Bret Harte
  Bret Harte
  Francis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.- Life and career :...
  
  
• Jarní bouře (Spring Storms; Frühlingsstürme), Operetta in 3 acts (1933); libretto by Gustav Beer
• Na růžích ustláno (A Bed of Roses), Operetta (1933); libretto by Bohumír Polách and Jiří Žalman
• Apropó, co dělá Andula? (By the Way, What Is Andula Doing?), Operetta (1934); libretto by Bohumír Polách and Jiří Žalman
• Císař pán na třešních (The Emperor Lord of Cherries), Operetta (1936); libretto by Bohumír Polách and Jiří Žalman
• Valdštejn (Wallenstein), Musical Tragedy (Opera) in 6 scenes (1937); libretto by Miloš Kareš after Friedrich Schiller
  Friedrich Schiller
  Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
  
  ; German translation by Max Brod
  Max Brod
  Max Brod was a German-speaking Czech Jewish, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is most famous as the friend and biographer of Franz Kafka...
  
  

Stage

• Únos Evelynion (The Abduction of Evelyne; Die Entführung der Evelyne), Pantomime in 1 act (1915); libretto by František Langer
  František Langer
  František Langer , was a Czech playwright, military physician, script writer, essayist, literary critic and publicist. He was born and died in Prague.- Life :...
  
  
• Kocourkov (Schilda), Puppet Show (1926); libretto by František Smažík
• Saratoga, Ballet (1941); libretto by the composer

Orchestral

• Lustspiel (Veseloherní ouvertura), Overture (1914); with popular song "Pepíku, Pepíku" as the main theme
• Three pieces for small orchestra (Tři kusy pro malý orchestr) (1916)
• Don Quijote (1918)
• Scherzo giocoso (1920)
• Kocourov (1923–1924)
• Overture to a Marionette Play (Puppenspiel Ouverture; Předehra k loutkové hře) (1924)
• Polka and Fugue (Polka a fuga z opery Švanda dudák) from the opera Schwanda the Bagpiper (1926, published 1928)
• Furiant (Furiant z opery Švanda dudák) from the opera Schwanda the Bagpiper (1926, published 1931)
• White Mountain Ouverture (Předehra k Bílé hoře
  Battle of White Mountain
  The Battle of White Mountain, 8 November 1620 was an early battle in the Thirty Years' War in which an army of 30,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt were routed by 27,000 men of the combined armies of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor under Charles Bonaventure de Longueval,...
  
  ) (piano arrangement 1926)
• Dance rondo (Taneční rondo, 1927)
• Vánoce (Christmas; Weihnachten) for orchestra and organ (1929)
• Neckerei for chamber orchestra (1929); also for piano
• 6 Czech Songs and Dances (České písně a tance) (1929); also for violin and piano
• Overture to a Chivalrous Play (Ouverture zum einen ritterlichen Spiel; Předehra k rytířské komedii) (1931)
• Passacaglia for orchestra and organ (UE
  Universal Edition
  Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
  
   1932)
• Chant hébraïque (Canto ebraico; Neima Ivrit; Hebrejský zpěv) (piano reduction 1936)
• Valdštejn (Wallenstein), Suite from the opera (1937)
• Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree
  Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree
  Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree is a set of variations, with fugue, for orchestra composed in 1939 by Jaromír Weinberger. It premiered under the direction of Sir John Barbirolli in New York City on October 12, 1939...
  
  (Pod košatým kaštanem), Variations and Fugue on an Old English Tune (1939, revised 1941)
• Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 4 Movements from Washington Irving
  Washington Irving
  Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
  
  's Sketch Book (1940)
• Song of the High Seas for chamber orchestra and organ (1940)
• Prelude and Fugue on a Southern Folktune (1940); also known as Prelude and Fugue on "Dixie"
• A Bird's Opera, Symphonic Suite (1940)
• Česká rapsódie (Czech Rhapsody) (1941)
• Lincolnova symfonie (The Lincoln Symphony) (1941)
• Préludes Réligieux et Profanes (1952); composed in 8 parts, part 4 is titled Hymne an St. Wenzeslaus
• Aus Tirol, Folkdance and Fugue (1959)
• A Waltz Overture (1960)

Concert band

• Homage to the Pioneers, Triumphant March (1940)
• Mississippi Rhapsody (1940)
• Prelude to the Festival, Concert March (1941)
• Afternoon in the Village (1951)

Concertante

• The Devil on the Belfry for violin and orchestra
• Concerto for Timpani with 4 trumpets and 4 trombones (or 4 trumpets, 3 trombones and tuba) (1939)
• Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra (1940)
• The Raven for cello, bass clarinet, harp and string orchestra (published 1942)

Chamber music

• String Quartet
• Colloque sentimental, Prelude after the Poem by Paul Verlaine
  Paul Verlaine
  Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
  
   for violin and piano (1920)
• Une cantilène jalouse (Žárlivá kantiléna) for violin and piano (1920)
• 3 Pieces (Tři skladby) for violin and piano (1924)

1. Banjos
2. Cowboy's Christmas (Cowboyovy Vánoce)
3. To Nelly Gray (Na Nelly Gray)
   • 6 Czech Songs and Dances (České písně a tance) violin and piano (1929); also for orchestra
   • 10 Characteristic Solos for snare drum with piano (1939–1941)
   • Sonatina for bassoon and piano (1940)
   • Sonatina for clarinet and piano (1940)
   • Sonatina for flute and piano (1940)
   • Sonatina for oboe and piano (1940)
   • Der Rabe for cello and piano

Organ

• Bible Poems (1939)
• Sonata (1941)
• 6 Religious Preludes (1946)
• Meditations, 3 Preludes (1953)
• Dedications, 5 Preludes (1954)

Piano

• Sonatina (1908)
• Sonata, Op.4 (1915)
• Homage to Paderewski
  Ignacy Jan Paderewski
  Ignacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
  
  , including Etude on a Polish Chorale "Z dymem pożarów" in G major (1924)
• Rytiny (Engravings; Gravures), 5 Preludes and Fugues (UE
  Universal Edition
  Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
  
   1924)
• Drei Klavierstücke (Tři klavírní kusy) (1924)
• Spinett-Sonate (Spinet Sonata) (UE
  Universal Edition
  Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
  
  1925)
• Neckerei (1929); also for orchestra
• Dupák, Folk Tune (1941)
• Five-Eighths, Etude (1941)

Vocal

• Hatikvah for voice and piano (1919)
• Písně s průvodem klavíru (Songs with Piano Accompaniment) for low voice and piano (1924)

1. Má první láska byla Olympia (My First Beloved Was Olympia); words by Miloš Kareš
2. Rozhovor (Conversation); words by Miloš Kareš
3. Námořnická; words by the composer
   • Psalm 150 for high voice and organ (1940); Biblical text
   • The Way to Emmaus for high voice and organ (1940); Biblical text
   • Ecclesiastes, Cantata for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, organ and bells (1946)
   • Of Divine Work, Anthem for mixed chorus (1946); Biblical text from Ecclesiastes
   • Five Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn for soprano and piano (1962)
   • Ave, Rhapsody for chorus and orchestra (1962)
   • Tři písně (3 Songs) for children's chorus and piano
   • Volnost for 4 voices; words by Josef Václav Sládek
   • Dvě písně (2 Songs) for voice and piano
4. Pan Vrchní; words by Pavel Maternov
5. U Vrátek; words by Josef Václav Sládek

External links

• The OREL Foundation- Jaromír Weinberger's biography and links to bibliography, discography and media.
• Weinberger Tour