Sommer, Vladimír

Sommer, Vladimír, Czech teacher and composer; b. Dolní Jiřetín, near Most, Feb. 28, 1921. He studied composition with Janaček at the Prague Cons. (1942–46) and with Bořkovec at the Prague Academy of Music (1946–50). He was music ed. of foreign broadcasts of Radio Prague (1953) and then was creative secretary of the Czech Composers Union (1953–56); taught at the Prague Academy of Music (1953–60) and then at the Charles Univ. in Prague (from I960), where he was a prof. of theory from 1968 until his retirement in 1987. His music is crafted in a fine, expressive manner.

Works

ORCH.: Violin Concerto (Prague, June 13, 1950); Antigone, overture (1956–57); Cello Concerto (1956–59); 3 syms.: No. 1, Vokální symfonie, for Narrator, Mezzo-soprano, Chorus, and Orch., after Dostoyevsky, Kafka, and Cesare Pavese (1957–59; rev. 1963; Prague, March 12, 1963), No. 2, Anno mundi ardenti, for Piano, Timpani, and Strings (1968), and No. 3, Sinfonia concertante, for 2 Violins, Viola, Cello, and Chamber Orch. (1968). CHAMBER: Sonata for 2 Violins (1948; also for Violin and Viola); 3 string quartets (1950; 1955; 1960–66); Piano Sonata (1954–56). VOCAL: Cantata on Gottwald for Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (Prague, Nov. 20, 1949); Černý Muž (The Black Man), symphonic poem for Tenor, Bass, and Orch. (1964); Sinfonia da Requiem: Vokální symfonie No. 2 for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1978); songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire