Karel Ančerl (11 April 1908 – 3 July 1973) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

conductor and composer, renowned especially for his performances of contemporary music and for his interpretations of music by Czech composers. Ančerl was born into a prosperous Jewish family in the village of Tučapy in

southern Bohemia The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part ...

. After graduating from the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...

, he pursued his conducting studies under

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor. Life Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...

and

Václav Talich Václav Talich (; 28 May 1883, Kroměříž – 16 March 1961, Beroun) was a Czech violinist and later a musical pedagogue. He is remembered today as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, the object of countless reissues of his man ...

. He was the assistant conductor at the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

premiere of

Alois Hába Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-tone scal ...

's quarter-tone opera ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

'' (1931) and conducted the orchestra of the avant-garde theatre ''

Osvobozené divadlo Osvobozené divadlo (1926–1938) (''Liberated Theatre'' or ''Prague Free Theatre'') was a Prague avant-garde theatre scene founded as the theatre section of an association of Czech avant-garde artists Devětsil (''Butterbur'') in 1926. The theatr ...

'' in Prague (1931–1933). Conducting work for Czechoslovak radio was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

which resulted in his being imprisoned with his family in the

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

in 1942 and then sent to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

in 1944. Unlike his wife and young son, Ančerl survived Auschwitz. After the war, Ančerl conducted for Radio Prague until 1950, when he became artistic director of the

Czech Philharmonic The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title ...

, a post he held successfully for eighteen years. Following the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, Ančerl emigrated to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada, where he worked as music director of the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

until his death in 1973. As a conductor, Ančerl helped foster a distinctly Czech orchestral sound, both within the Czech Philharmonic and elsewhere. Highly regarded also as a studio artist, Ančerl made a wide range of recordings on the

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. T ...

label, including repertoire by various Czech composers (remastered in the

Karel Ančerl Gold Edition The Karel Ančerl Gold Edition is the collection of 42 reissued and remastered albums, recorded by Czech conductor Karel Ančerl from 1950 until 1968, when the artist left Czechoslovakia in the wake of the Soviet invasion. The CDs were released b ...

Life

He was born into a prosperous Jewish family in the village of Tučapy in

, where his father Leopold was a large-scale producer of liquors and spirits. After graduating from the gymnasium in Prague (1918–24) he studied composition and conducting at the

between 1925 and 1929, along with chamber music, violin and percussion. In 1931 he participated as assistant conductor at the

premiere of

's quarter-tone opera ''

''. Ančerl also studied conducting under

in Strasbourg and with

in Prague. Between 1931 and 1933, he conducted the orchestra of the avant-garde theatre ''

'' in Prague, where he brought about a marked improvement in playing standards. From 1933 to 1939, he conducted for the Czechoslovak radio, but his career as a conductor was interrupted by

. He was sent with his family to the

(Terezín) on 12 November 1942. There, he became the leader of the large ''Terezín String Orchestra'' and started to organize cultural and music life in the ghetto. His final performance was for the propaganda film '' Theresienstadt (1944 film), Theresienstadt'', directed, under coercion of the camp commandant Karl Rahm, by

Kurt Gerron Kurt Gerron (11 May 1897 – 28 October 1944) was a German History of the Jews in Germany, Jewish actor and film director. He and his wife, Olga were murdered in the Holocaust. Life Born Kurt Gerson into a well-off merchant family in Berlin, he ...

to fool the Red Cross. The film showed Ančerl conducting a work by

Pavel Haas Pavel Haas (21 June 189917 October 1944) was a Czech composer who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was an exponent of Leoš Janáček's school of composition, and also utilized elements of folk music and jazz. Although his output was not la ...

on a wooden pavilion, with flowerpots hiding the fact that many of the orchestra were barefoot. The film also featured

Martin Roman Martin Roman (23 April 1910 – 12 May 1996) was a German jazz pianist. At the time of the Reichstag fire in February 1933, Martin was stopped by SS men at the entrance to the huge Vaterland emporium in Berlin, where his band, the Marek Weber Ba ...

's big band, the

Ghetto Swingers The Ghetto Swingers were a jazz band organised in the Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt. The original amateur Czech band playing in the Café of the Ghetto was led by Eric Vogel and Pavel Libensky. Vogel petitioned the Kommandant on Janua ...

. As soon as the film was over, Gerron, Ančerl, Haas, Roman and all those who had participated in the film were herded into cattle trucks for the final transport to

on 15 October 1944. Ančerl managed to survive Auschwitz, but his wife Valy and son Jan (born in Terezín) perished in the gas chambers. From 1946 to 1947 he was a conductor for The State Opera. Later he conducted for

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu'', Czech acronym SOČR, English acronym PRSO) is a Czech broadcast orchestra based in Prague, the Czech Republic. The SOČR performs concerts at the Dvořák Hall of th ...

until he was appointed artistic director of the

on the recommendation of

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin w ...

in 1950. His eighteen-year tenure with this orchestra is often regarded as its greatest period, which brought it much international recognition. In August 1968, after the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

, he decided to emigrate to

, Ontario, Canada. He conducted his last two concerts with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the

Prague Spring Festival The Prague Spring International Music Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní hudební festival Pražské jaro, commonly cs, Pražské jaro, Prague Spring) is a classical music festival held every year in Prague, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras an ...

in 1969. He conducted the

from 1968 until his death in Toronto in 1973. His tomb is located in

Vyšehrad cemetery Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...

in Prague. Some of his notable pupils include Brian Jackson, Štěpán Koníček,

Libor Pešek Libor Pešek (22 June 1933 – 23 October 2022) was a Czech conducting, conductor. He was among the most famous conductors of his time, working regularly across Europe as chief conductor of orchestras in Prague, but also for ten years with the ...

Jan Tausinger Jan Tausinger (1 November 1921 in Piatra Neamţ – 29 July 1980 in Prague) was a Romania-born ethnic Czech (people), Czech Viola, violist, Conducting, conductor and composer.#Vysloužil, Vysloužil (2001), p. 548-549 Biography Tausinger studied co ...

, and Martin Turnovský.

Style

As a conductor, Ančerl followed a recognizably Czech tradition. Along with

Karel Šejna Karel Šejna (1 November 1896, Zálezly – 17 December 1982, Prague) was a Czech double bassist and conductor, the principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1950. Life and career Šejna's musical studies were at the Prague C ...

Václav Neumann Václav Neumann (29 October 1920 – 2 September 1995) was a Czech conductor, violinist, violist, and opera director. Life and career Neumann was born in Prague, where he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Micka (violin), and ...

and others, he helped foster a distinctly Czech orchestral sound. Rhythmic sharpness, vibrant dynamics, and a keenly etched sound were hallmarks of his conducting style. While these characteristics were especially evident when he conducted his home orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, he also persuaded orchestras as diverse as the

Toronto Symphony The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

, the

Vienna Symphony The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikv ...

and the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklĳk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "R ...

to play with a distinctive Czech sound. Ancerl's work on the podium brought out the indigenous characteristics of repertoire to which that would apply, and always displayed a flexibly molded and incredibly minute attention to detail. Also remarkable was an innate classical sense to his work in Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms. There was a grace to Ancerl's music-making, and a spiritually-infused lyricism absorbed by a love of life and of nature - sample his discs of Martinu's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, or Mahler's Ninth on Supraphon - that was a clear stand-out. He himself may have attributed some of this to the horrors he witnessed or experienced during the war - certainly a few others have. Ančerl remains highly regarded as a recording artist. His broad range of recordings for the Czech

label have been carefully remastered for the

, which was awarded the ''

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

'' by '' l'Académie Charles Cros''. In addition to performances of Czech composers, including

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, baptised Leo Eugen Janáček; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic musics, including Eastern European fol ...

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

and

Miloslav Kabeláč Miloslav Kabeláč (1 August 1908 – 17 September 1979) was a prominent Czech composer and conductor. Miloslav Kabeláč belongs to the foremost Czech symphonists, whose work is sometimes compared with Antonín Dvořák's and Bohuslav Martin ...

, Ančerl is also admired for his interpretations of 20th-century composers such as

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

and

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

, as well as the Toronto-based organist/composer

Healey Willan James Healey Willan (12 October 1880 – 16 February 1968) was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and ...

. He also championed less widely known Czech composers, such as Jan Hanuš, Iša Krejčí, Otmar Mácha and

Ladislav Vycpálek Ladislav Vycpálek (Vršovice, Prague, 23 February 1882 – Prague, 9 January 1969) was a Czech Republic, Czech composer and Viola, violist. Vycpálek studied composition under Vítězslav Novák. However, he very soon found his own expressive st ...

. Performances with several orchestras have appeared on labels such as Tahra,

CBC Records CBC Records was a Canadian record label owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which distributed CBC programming, including live concert performances, in album and digital format(s)."CBC Records is the corporation's biggest h ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

. Line Classics has issued some radio recordings made during the late 1940s, when Ančerl returned to Prague.

References

* * Bedřich Smetana: My Country. DVD sleevnote. Praha: Supraphon, 2008. SU 7015-9 * Holzknecht, Václav: ''Jaroslav Ježek a Osvobozené divadlo''. Praha: ARSCI, 2007.

Notes

External links

*
Karel Ančerl biography and discography

Karel Ančerl biography

The Golden Edition by SUPRAPHON
*

František Sláma (musician) František Sláma (19 November 1923 – 5 May 2004) was a Czech chamber music performer. He was the first Czech cellist who focused on Early music. Biography Sláma was born in Herálec. Until the age of 18 he worked in the quarry. His meeting ...

br>Archive
More on the history of the Czech Philharmonic between the 1940s and the 1980s: ''Conductors''
Documents about Karel Ančerl
in the collection of th
Jewish Museum Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancerl, Karel 1908 births 1973 deaths 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century composers 20th-century Czech male musicians Czech composers Czech male composers Czechoslovak classical musicians Czechoslovak conductors (music) Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada Czech Jews Czechoslovak Jews Jewish classical musicians Prague Conservatory alumni People from Tábor District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Austro-Hungarian Jews Jewish concentration camp survivors Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery