Oskar Nedbal


Oskar Nedbal was a Czech violist, composer, and conductor of classical music.

Early Life

Nedbal was born in Tábor, in southern Bohemia. He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory under Antonín Bennewitz.

Career

He was principal conductor with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 1896 to 1906 and was a founder member of the Bohemian String Quartet.
Although a great admirer of his teacher Antonín Dvořák, Nedbal paid homage to other composers. For example, in his 1910 composition, Romantic Piece, Op. 18 for cello and piano, Nedbal cleverly inserts a theme usually associated with Mozart, Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman.
His works include one opera, Jakob the Peasant, and the operettas Chaste Barbara, Polish Blood, The Vineyard Bride, and Beautiful Saskia.
in 1926 he conducted the premiere of Jan Levoslav Bella's opera, Wieland der Schmied in Bratislava.

Death and Legacy

Because of mounting personal debts, Nedbal committed suicide by jumping out of a window of the Zagreb Opera House on 24 December 1930.
In recent years, Nedbal's haunting Valse Triste featured in his ballet Der Faule Hans has been a favorite stand-alone encore piece of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The waltz is also played on the piano at a key moment by one of the characters in Heimito von Doderer's novel of the inter-war years in Vienna, The Demons .

Selected works

;Opera
;Operettas
;Ballets
;Incidental music
;Orchestral
;Concertante
;Chamber music
;Piano
; Vocal
;Film scores