Role

:

Composer

Birth

:

October 2, 1922 in Ostrava, Czech Republic

Period

:

Contemporary

Genre

:

Chamber

 

 

Keyboard

 

 

Orchestral

 

 

Vocal

 

Otmar Mácha was a Czech composer of classical music, born on January 28, 1922, in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He was the son of a famous Czech composer, Josef Mácha, who was a professor at the Prague Conservatory. Otmar grew up in a musical family and was exposed to music from a young age. He began playing the piano at the age of six and later learned to play the violin and the cello. Otmar Mácha studied at the Prague Conservatory, where he was taught by some of the most prominent Czech composers of the time, including Alois Hába and Jaroslav Ježek. He graduated in 1944 and went on to study composition at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. During his studies, he was influenced by the works of Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and Anton Webern. Mácha's early works were influenced by the neoclassical style, which was popular in Europe at the time. His first major composition was a piano concerto, which he wrote in 1946. The concerto was well-received and helped establish Mácha as a promising young composer. In the 1950s, Mácha's style began to evolve, and he started incorporating elements of serialism and atonality into his compositions. His works from this period include a string quartet, a piano sonata, and a symphony. These works were more experimental than his earlier compositions and reflected the influence of the Second Viennese School. Mácha's most famous work is his opera, The Makropulos Affair, which he composed in 1961. The opera is based on a play by Karel Čapek and tells the story of a woman who has lived for over 300 years due to a potion that she took. The opera was a critical and commercial success and is still performed today. In the 1970s, Mácha's style became more tonal, and he began incorporating elements of folk music into his compositions. His works from this period include a suite for orchestra, a cantata, and a ballet. These works were more accessible than his earlier compositions and reflected Mácha's desire to connect with a wider audience. Mácha continued to compose throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and his later works include a piano trio, a clarinet concerto, and a choral work. His compositions from this period were more introspective and reflected Mácha's contemplative nature. Otmar Mácha was a prolific composer who wrote over 100 works in a variety of genres. His compositions are characterized by their clarity of form, their use of unconventional harmonies, and their incorporation of folk music. Mácha was also a respected music educator and taught at the Prague Conservatory for many years. Mácha's contributions to Czech music were recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the Czech State Prize for Music in 1972 and the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in 1997. He died on December 13, 2006, in Prague, Czech Republic, at the age of 84. In conclusion, Otmar Mácha was a Czech composer of classical music who made significant contributions to the development of Czech music. His compositions were characterized by their clarity of form, their use of unconventional harmonies, and their incorporation of folk music. Mácha's most famous work is his opera, The Makropulos Affair, which is still performed today. Mácha's legacy as a composer and music educator continues to inspire generations of musicians.

More....