Petr Eben
Encyclopedia
Petr Eben was a Czech composer
of modern and contemporary classical music
.
in northeastern Bohemia
, Eben spent his youth in Český Krumlov
in southern Bohemia. There he studied piano
, and later cello
and organ
. The years of German occupation and World War II
were especially difficult for him.
Although Eben was raised as a Catholic, his father was a Jew and in 1943 Eben was expelled from school and interned by the Nazis in Buchenwald for the duration of the war.
After the war he was admitted to the Prague Academy for Music where he studied piano with František Rauch and composition
with Pavel Bořkovec
. Beginning in 1955 Eben taught for many years in the music history department at Charles University in Prague
.
In 1955 he was appointed to the staff of the Music Department of the University of Prague
. From 1978-1979 he was professor of composition at the Royal Northern College of Music
, Manchester
. In 1990 he became professor of composition
at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
and President of the Prague Spring Festival. He is well-known for his improvisations on the piano and organ, but composition remained his main area of interest.
1983, the orchestral works Hours of the Night (Noční hodiny) and Prague Nocturne (Pražské nokturno), for the Vienna Philharmonic, the Organ Concerto No. 2 for the dedication of the new organ for Radio Vienna, the mass Missa cum populo for the Avignon Festival, the oratorio Holy Symbol (Posvátná znamení) for Salzburg
Cathedral, and the Church Opera Jeremiah. He has also written organ music, and some enchanting children’s songs such as Sníh, a song about snow
which won an award for Best Children's Choir Song in Illinois.
.
Petr Eben's Moto Ostinato is played by English organist Gillian Weir in her "The King of Instruments" series (Priory Records' PRDVD 7001).
The German organist Gunther Rost has recorded 6 discs of Petr Eben's organ music on label Motette
The interpretation recorded on this CD-SACD series was largely influenced by the composer's personal suggestions and comments. The series compiles all of Eben's works for solo organ which have been published to this date, played by Gunther Rost on various contemporary instruments.
The speaker in both cycles, Job (vol. I) and The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (vol. V, which will be published in 2006), is the late Gert Westphal, one of Germany's most important contemporary reciters. Some of his CDs feature works by Sieglinde Ahrens
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of modern and contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
.
His life
Born in ŽamberkŽamberk
Žamberk is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,100 inhabitants.-Museums and Historic Sites:* Municipal Museum – Československé armády 472* House of Prokop Diviš – Helvíkovice 326* Litice - ancient castle...
in northeastern Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, Eben spent his youth in Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov is a small city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town and Český Krumlov Castle...
in southern Bohemia. There he studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and later cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
. The years of German occupation and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
were especially difficult for him.
Although Eben was raised as a Catholic, his father was a Jew and in 1943 Eben was expelled from school and interned by the Nazis in Buchenwald for the duration of the war.
After the war he was admitted to the Prague Academy for Music where he studied piano with František Rauch and composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
with Pavel Bořkovec
Pavel Borkovec
Pavel Bořkovec was a Czech composer and music teacher.Bořkovec 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...
. Beginning in 1955 Eben taught for many years in the music history department at Charles University 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...
.
In 1955 he was appointed to the staff of the Music Department of the University of Prague
Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...
. From 1978-1979 he was professor of composition at the Royal Northern College of Music
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. In 1990 he became professor of composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
at the Academy of Performing Arts 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...
and President of the Prague Spring Festival. He is well-known for his improvisations on the piano and organ, but composition remained his main area of interest.
His music
Eben was a productive composer of music in several genres. Among his most important commissions were the oratorio Apologia Socratus, the ballet Curse and Benediction (Kletby a dobroreceni), written for the Holland FestivalHolland Festival
The Holland Festival is The Netherlands' oldest and largest performing arts festival, and takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theater, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and architecture were added to the festival roster...
1983, the orchestral works Hours of the Night (Noční hodiny) and Prague Nocturne (Pražské nokturno), for the Vienna Philharmonic, the Organ Concerto No. 2 for the dedication of the new organ for Radio Vienna, the mass Missa cum populo for the Avignon Festival, the oratorio Holy Symbol (Posvátná znamení) for Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
Cathedral, and the Church Opera Jeremiah. He has also written organ music, and some enchanting children’s songs such as Sníh, a song about snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
which won an award for Best Children's Choir Song in Illinois.
Recordings
The Norwegian organist Halgeir Schiager has recorded five CDs of Petr Eben's organ music on Hyperion RecordsHyperion Records
Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label.-History:The company was named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by...
.
Petr Eben's Moto Ostinato is played by English organist Gillian Weir in her "The King of Instruments" series (Priory Records' PRDVD 7001).
The German organist Gunther Rost has recorded 6 discs of Petr Eben's organ music on label Motette
The interpretation recorded on this CD-SACD series was largely influenced by the composer's personal suggestions and comments. The series compiles all of Eben's works for solo organ which have been published to this date, played by Gunther Rost on various contemporary instruments.
The speaker in both cycles, Job (vol. I) and The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (vol. V, which will be published in 2006), is the late Gert Westphal, one of Germany's most important contemporary reciters. Some of his CDs feature works by Sieglinde Ahrens
Sieglinde Ahrens
Sieglinde Maria Ahrens is a German organist and composer. She is the daughter of Joseph Ahrens , a German composer and organist. Aherns studied music and composition under her father. After she completed her studies, she was an organist of Salvator-Kirche and professor of organ at Essen...
.
List of selected compositions
- Missa adventAdventAdvent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
us et quadragesimaeLentIn the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
, 1952 - Organ Concerto No. 1, 1954
- Sunday Music, organ, 1957–59
- Hořká hlína (Bitter Earth), cantata, 1959–60
- Piano Concerto, 1960–61
- "Laudes", organ, 1964
- Ordinarium missae, 1966
- Apologia Socratus, oratorio, 1967
- Truvérská mše (Trouvere Mass), 1968–69
- Vox clamantis, 1969
- "Ten Preludes on Chorales of the Bohemian Brethren", organ, 1971–73
- Pragensia, cantata, 1972
- Noční hodiny (Hours of the Night), sinfonia, 1975
- Faust, incidental music, 1976
- Hamlet, incidental music, 1976–77
- Pocta Karlu IV., cantata, 1978
- "Mutationes", organ, 1980
- Rorate coeli, Fantasy for viola and organ, 1982
- Missa cum populo, 1982
- Kletby a dobrořečení (Curses and Blessings), ballet, 1983
- Hommage à Dietrich Buxtehude, organ, 1987
- Job, organ, 1987
- "A Festive Voluntary: Variations on Good King Wenceslas", organ, 1987
- Organ Concerto No. 2, 1988
- Prague Te Deum, 1989 (for mixed choir, 4 brass instruments, timpani and percussion or organ)
- "Biblical Dances", organ, 1990–91
- Posvátná znamení (Sacred Symbols), oratorio, 1992–93
- Proprium festivum monasteriense, hymn, 1993
- "Amen — es werde wahr: Choralphantasie für Orgel", organ, 1994
- "Momenti d'organo", organ, 1994
- Hommage à Henry Purcell, organ, 1994–95
- Jeremiah, opera, 1996–97
- "Campanae gloriosae", organ, 1999
External links
- Obituary in The Times, 7 December 2007
- Czech Composer Petr Eben Dies at 78, Associated Press, Oct 25, 2007
- Petr Eben, notice of his death from the Czech music information centre
- Czech composer Petr Eben has died, news story in Gramophone.
- International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music with Petr Eben's Prize