ebor, Karel (Richard) [Schebor,Carl]

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ebor, Karel (Richard) [Schebor, Carl]

(b Brands nad Labem, 13 Aug 1843; d Prague, 17 May 1903). Czech composer. A child prodigy, he attended the Prague Conservatory from the age of 11, studying the violin with Moic Mildner and composition with J.B. Kittl. By 1859 he had already completed his first symphony. He gained a reputation as an excellent violinist, performing in chamber music concerts in and around Prague. However, in 1860, after he was found to be suffering from a heart defect, he left the conservatory and gave up any hope of pursuing a career as a violinist. A year later he moved to the Polish estate of Baron Puget-Puzet at Samianka, working as a music teacher, after which (1863) he obtained his first theatre post as a conductor in Erfurt. In 1865 ebor began his important association with Czech opera. He was installed at the Provisional Theatre as chorus master and second conductor, and his first opera, Templi na Morav (The Templars in Moravia), was staged with great success. This was the first performance of an original Czech opera at the Provisional Theatre, and it established ebor as a leading Czech composer and potential rival of Smetana. Over the next three years he consolidated his position with further national operas, Drahomra (1867), and Nevsta husitsk (The Hussite Bride, 1868), which proved to be his most popular stage work. His next opera, Blanka (1870), was a failure. This was partly due to inherent weaknesses in its libretto, but perhaps also because ebor became a victim of a burgeoning dispute between the aesthetically conflicting factions of Smetana and Frantiek Pivoda; his opera was attacked for exhibiting italianate style, a weak plot, and for its being based upon a poorly translated libretto resulting in faulty declamation and text underlay. The situation was exacerbated by disagreements with the theatre management, and probably compounded by as yet unknown personal difficulties. As a result he surrendered his post and left Bohemia. He spent the next 24 years in voluntary exile, initially as conductor of opera in Lemberg (now L'viv, Ukraine), and from 1873 as music director of an infantry regiment. For a brief period he conducted at the Carltheater in Vienna. He remained active as a composer, producing some chamber works and many orchestral dances and marches. He revised The Hussite Bride, and an attempt was made by the former Intendant of the Provisional Theatre, Frantiek Rieger, to lure him back to composition for the Czech stage. This resulted in the comic opera Zmaen svatba (The Frustrated Wedding, 1879), which, despite public success, was soon withdrawn from the repertory because of a dispute over ebors financial demands. He finally returned to Prague in 1894, founded a private music school, and became composer and music director of the national gymnastics institution Sokol. Apart from performances of The Hussite Bride until the mid-1890s, his only connection with Czech opera was as a member of the committee which decided the Prague National Theatres repertory. After his death ebors music dropped from public awareness. His contribution to the development of Czech music still remains to be thoroughly evaluated. ebor was one of the most talented and significant of Czech Romantic composers. His creative style, which was founded upon French and Italian influences, especially Auber, Meyerbeer and Bellini, was notable for its spontaneity, evocative and strongly lyrical melodic writing, and an acute sense

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ebor, Karel (Richard) [Schebor,Carl]

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of orchestral colour. These characteristics were already evident in his early symphonies and overtures of the early 1860s, the former works representing an important anticipation of Dvoaks first works in the genre. However, his primary significance was as an opera composer, a medium to which his style was inherently suited. He demonstrated remarkable dramatic understanding, an ability to delineate character and to sustain long periods of dramatic argument and controlled climax. Unfortunately, he never fulfilled the promise of his early talent, tending to work too fast and without reflection. His later works, including The Frustrated Wedding and the mature chamber music, are often disappointingly superficial. WORKS
(selective list) many MSS in CZ-Bm

stage
all operas first performed in Prague

Templi na Morav [The Templars in Moravia] (historical romantic op, 3, K. Sabina), Provisional, 19 Oct 1865, CZ-Bm, excerpts, vs (Prague, n.d.; Hamburg, n.d) Drahomra (grand romantic op, 4 J. Bhm, after F. r), Provisional, 20 Sept 1867, Bm Nevsta husitsk [The Hussite Bride] (grand romantic op, 5, E. Rffer, trans.), New Town, 27 Sept 1868 Bm, love duet, Act 3, vs (Prague, n.d.); rev. (Ger. lib rev. T. Fallerau, trans.), Pnd, extract from Act 1 in Burghauser Blanka (fantastic romantic op, 4, Rffer, trans.), Provisional, 8 March 1870, Bm Zmaen svatba [The Frustrated Wedding] (national op, 3, M. ervinkov-Riegrov, after Fr. vaudeville Le petit Pierre), Provisional, 25 Oct 1879, Bm, excerpts, vs (Prague, n.d.; Hamburg, n.d.) Vzpomnky z kouzeln e [Memories from the Magic Empire] (ballet), 1890, unperf., Bm instrumental 4 syms.: E , 1858, rev., 2 movts perf. Prague, 6 Dec 1874; E , op.11, 1861, perf. Prague, 8 March 1863; G, 1863; B , 1866/7, perf. Prague, 12 April 1867; all Bm 6 ovs: E, 1859; B , Wallensteins Tod, c1859, perf. Prague, 18 March 1860; D, op.16, 1862; B , 1863; f , La mlancholie, perf. Prague, 9 Sept 1865; Slavnostn ouvertura [Festival Ov.], 1895 Other orch: 6 ungarische Mrsche (Dresden, 1863); 2 sets of Sym. Dances, perf. Prague, 1894; numerous single dances and marches for orch. Chbr: 2 str qts, [no.1], perf. Prague, 1860, [no.2], e, op.42 c1880; Pf qnt, B , op.46; many pf works, incl. arr of ov. and potpourri from Templi na Morav (Prague c1865) vocal Cants: Mjov noc [May Night] (K.J.Erben), vv, orch, 1866, perf. 1873; Slavnostn kantta [Festival Cant] (J. Bhm), unacc. male vv, 1868, for laying the National Theatre foundation stone Many choruses, male vv, incl. Sokolsk hymna [Sokol Hymn], 1891 Ger. and Cz. songs, 1.v, pf, incl Ku pedu, zptky ni krok [Forwards, Not a Step Backwards!] (J.V. Sldek) (Prague, 1892), Jen jedno vm [I Know Only One] (Prague, 1895)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY E. Chvla: Ein Vierteljahrhundert bhmischer Musik (Prague, 1887) V.A.J. Hornov: [V. Horn, A. Horn and J. Horn]: esk zpvohra [Czech opera] (Prague, 1903) J. Branberger: Konservato hudby v Praze [The Prague Conservatory of Music] (Prague, 1911; Ger. trans., 1911) M. Oadlk: Svt orchestru [The world of the orchestra] (Prague, 19426, enlarged 3/1961) V. Svobodov: Opery Karla ebora v Prozatmnm divadlu [The operas of Karel ebor at the Provisional Theatre], Mm, xxxviii (1953), 15062 M. Nedbal: Ludevt Prochzka, Klasikov hudebn vdy a kritiky [Classics of musical scholarship and criticism], i/3 (Prague, 1958) M. Pospil: Balada v esk opee 19. stolet [The ballad in Czech 19thcentury opera], HV, xvi (1979), 325 J. Burghauser, ed.: Nrodnmu divadlu: vklad zakladatelsk generace [To the National Theatre: the investment by the founding generation] (Prague, 1983) O. Hostinsk: Z hudebnch boj let sedmdestch a osmdestch: vbor z opernch a koncertnch kritik [From the musical battles of the 1870s and 80s: a selection of opera and concert reviews], ed. E. Vtov (Prague, 1986) J. Tyrrell: Czech Opera (Cambridge, 1988) KARL STAPLETON

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