Edvard Schiffauer


Tomáš Edvard Schiffauer, more commonly known as Edvard Schiffauer, is a Czech composer of classical music. Schiffauer is mainly a composer of music for theater. He also composed vocal pieces like operas, an oratorio, a mass and others, along with chamber music, such as sonatas, sonatinas, a string quartet, pieces for a brass quintet, a wind octet, a string trio and more.

Biography

Edvard Schiffauer was born in Ostrava in an educated upper-middle-class family. However, the family's living standards degraded after the communist 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état. In 1960, Schiffauer started his study at the Technical University of Ostrava, which he discontinued, but he completed his Master's degree at the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Ostrava in 1964. He also started studying musical composition in the Academy of Performing Arts.
In 1961, Schiffauer and other students established the theater named Divadélko Pod okapem, which became an Ostravian version of Prague's Semafor Theatre. Moreover, he was involved in the foundation of Divadlo Waterloo and he composed music for the musical Syn Pluku in 1968. This theater became banned by the authorities during the normalization era in Czechoslovakia and a large-scale court trial was held with those who had been involved in this theater. Schiffauer was expelled from the Academy of Performing Arts and sentenced to nine months of imprisonment for having composed music for that musical. He served his sentence in the prison in Pilsen-Bory, where he wrote a children's opera Vrat' nám, ptáku, Hastermana! with his friend and later Charter 77 signatory Ivan Binar. During the normalization era, Schiffauer was employed as a worker and he was being permanently interrogated by the State Security Police. This experience was briefly summarized by Schiffauer in an interview published on YouTube in February 2019.
After the Velvet Revolution, Schiffauer was allowed to complete his university education and could fully engage himself into composition of music. He was teaching in the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava and in the Silesian University.

Works

Opus NumberTitleYearNotes
1Agent 3,141591969This is music for a theater play. This piece was premiered on 2 December 1969 in the Theater Waterloo.
2Pamphlets1969Czech/original: "Pamflety". This is a collection of scenic music and songs. This piece was premiered on 14 January 1969 in the Theater Waterloo.
3Son of the Regiment1969Czech/original: "Syn Pluku". This satirical musical was the cause of Schiffauer's arrest in 1972. This music was premiered 1 April 1969 in the Theater Waterloo.
4Rural Christmas Mass1969Czech/original: "Venkovská Vánoční mše". Words by Ivan Binar. This is one of Schiffauer's most well-known compositions. This piece is included in a CD named "Vánoce" released in 1998. This mass was premiered in the Church of Mokré Lazce by the Kostelní sbor a orchestr v Mokrých Lazcích. Otherwise, this composition was performed in churches of Moravia, Silesia, Poland, Slovakia and even the Netherlands and Denmark. This piece was also published on Youtube.
5Bring us Hasterman back, Bird!1973Czech/original: "Vrat' nám, ptáku, Hastermana!". This is an opera for kids. This is one of Schiffauer's most well-known compositions. Schiffauer wrote the plot of this opera in prison with Ivan Binar. This piece was released on a standalone CD named "Vrat' nám, ptáku, Hastermana!". This opera was premiered on 4 September 2015 in the Puppet Theater of Ostrava. And under the title "Zob, Zob, Zoban!", this opera was premiered in the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, on 24 September 2017. Also, under the name of "Nøkkemannen Lucian", this opera was premiered in Norway in the Ringsaker Opera Theater, in Ringsaker, on the 29th May 2019.
6Teasing1975Czech/original: "Škádlení". Written for 3 mixed choirs and a Capella.
7Sneers1982Czech/original: "Jízlivosti". Written for male voice and harp. This Composition čas premiered in 1982 in a festival named "Hudební současnost", in Ostrava.
8Small evening entry fees1983Czech/original: "Malé večerní vstupné". Written for a French horn quartet.
9Sonata I for Violin and Guitar1984–1985–
10Zoo Suite1984Czech/original: "Zoologická suita". Written for a brass quintet. This suite was premiered in 1985 in a festival named "Hudební současnost", in Ostrava.
11Hymn of Morava1985Czech/original: "Hymnus Moravy". Written for fourteen brass instruments.
12Sonatina I for French horn and Guitar1985–
13String Quartet: "Vzepětí"1989–
14Music to Go with White Wine 1992Czech/original: "Hudba k bílému vínu ". This composition was included in a CD.
15...and the Flower Remains1993Czech/original: "...a kytička zůstává". Written for flute, cello and piano. Upon the death of Schiffauer's mother, Marta Schiffauerová, he was very sad. But when he composed this piece, it put his sadness aside. The origine of this title is Schiffauer's memory of his mother's funeral, at which he saw a flower that became, to him, a symbol of his mother. This is what this piece is named after.
16Crusade1994Czech/original: "Křížová výprava". This is a scenic oratorio buffo.
17Christmas Singing at Home, or Elsewhere1994Czech/original: "Vánoční zpívání doma, i jinde". Written for mixed choir. This collection of carols from all over the world edited by Schiffauer was included in a CD named "Vánoce" released in 1998.
18A Hare, a Hare!1995Czech/original: "Zajíc, zajíc!". This is music for theater.
19Ondras and Juras; Lord of the Bald Mountain1996Czech/original: "Ondráš a Juráš; Pán Lysé hory". This is a tragic opera comedy.
20Whispers1996Czech/original: "Šepoty". Written for female voice and a string trio.
213 Small Christmas Pastorels1997Czech/original: "3 malé Vánoční pastorely". Written for a wind octet. These three pieces were included in a CD named "Vánoce" released in 1998.
22Clevernesses1998Czech/original: "Chytrosti". Written for 3 female voices and a magnetic tape.
23Singing about Rusalka1998Czech/original: "Zpívání o Rusalce". This is music for theater and for musical preparation.
24Czardas for solo tuba1999–
25Preludium and Toccata for Organ: "Sinful Toccata"1999Czech/original: "Hříšná toccata".
26Nausikaa1999This is music for theater.
27Sonatina II for French Horn and a Student Orchestra1999–
28Returns2000Czech/original: "Návraty". Written for solo bayan.
29Variations on a Folk Song2000Czech/original: "Úlety s lidovou písní". Written for a female vocal trio, viola and guitar.
30Pictures to Vernissage II, correctly Music to Vernissage II2001Czech/original: "Obrázky k vernisáži II, správně Hudba k vernisáži II". Written for harp.
31Scream2002Czech/original: "Výkřik". Written for a string orchestra.
32Fragment of a Neu-Baroque Sonata2002Czech/original: "Fragment neubarokní sonáty". Written for a string orchestra and violin.
33Little Moravian Suite Moravian Suitek2006Czech/original: "Moravský Suitek". Written for a clarinet quartet. "Suitek" is the name of a musical form invented by Schiffauer. The suffix "-ek" basically means "little" in Czech. Thus, "suitek" means "little suite".
34Slépky2006Written for three flutes, a string orchestra and a whip.
35Maid in Trouble2008Czech/original: "Komorná v nesnázích". Written for a soprano and violin.

Unknown dates
TitleNotes
But I, I...Czech/original: "Ale já přece...". This is a dark grotesque opera.
Just like Tree TrunksCzech/original: "Jako kmeny stromů". Written for a symphonic orchestra.
Sonata II for Solo Cello: "Jotunheimen"–
Moravian Boy on a Crossing in SydneyCzech/original: "Kluk z Moravy na přechodu v Sydney". Written for solo piano.
About Love with UsCzech/original: "O lásce u nás". Written for singing and piano.
A Fairytale about Love Czech/original: "Pohádka o lásce ". This piece appeared in a CD released in 2011 named "Czech and Moravian Oboe Music". This composition was once performed on 11 January 2013 by Czech oboist Marlen Vavriková in the Madsen Recital and was assisted by BYU faculty pianist Jeffrey Shumway.
Seven Variations for PianoCzech/original: "Sedm variací pro klavír".
Music for Oscar Wilde's Tale "Happy Prince" from his Book "The Happy Prince and Other Tales"Written for two female voices, recitation, violin and guitar.
Christmas Flute TrioCzech/original: "Vánoční flétnové trio". 2 movements of this piece are published on YouTube.
Monologue from Mrštík brothers’ play for solo voice "Maryša"This piece was premiered on 13 November 2019 in the Gallery, Academy of Performing Arts.
Opera "Brenpartija", or "Scenes from Slag Heap"Czech/original: "Opera "Brenpartija", aneb "Scény ze struskové haldy"". This composition was premiered on 26 May 2009 in the Lower Vítkovice. Later, it was premiered on 30 October 2009 in the Komorní Scéna Aréna.