Otmar Mácha
composer (1922–2006)
A music dramaturge, director and composer, Mácha drew on the music of the 1st half of the 20th century in his own production, finding inspiration in the Czech folklore.
He studied composition first with František Míťa Hradil (1941–1942), in the years 1943–1948 he was Jaroslav Řídký's student at the Prague Conservatory. In 1948 he started working for the Czechoslovak Radio, first as a music director (1945–1956) and then as the chief dramaturge of music broadcasting (1956–1962).
Afterwards, he decided to become a freelance composer and concentrate fully on composing. He also concerned himself with music journalism; for instance, he is the author of the books Music Culture in the Ostrava Region (Hudební kultura na Ostravsku) or the Czech Biographical Dictionary of the 20th Century (Český biografický slovník XX. Století).
As a composer he aroused significant public notice by his oratorio The Legacy of J. A. Comenius (Odkaz J. Á. Komenského, 1952 - 55), the opera Lake Ukereve (Jezero Ukereve) based on V. Vančura's play, and the orchestral Variations on the Theme and Death of Jan Rychlík (Variace na téma a smrt Jana Rychlíka, 1964).
Apart from his concert music production, he particularly excelled as a composer of film and television music, as exemplified by his music for the films The Wanderings of J. A. Comenius (Putování Jana Amose), and Oldřich and Božena, or for the series A District in the North (Okres na severu) and The Engineering Odyssey (Inženýrská odysea). In his compositional output he contributed to all the main musical forms, and he also wrote many works for children.
As one of five Czech composers, Mácha was addressed to compose an orchestral piece for the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2005–2006 season. Together with Sylvie Bodorová, Luboš Fišer, and Zdeněk Lukáš, he was a member of Quattro, a free union of composers.
Titles for sale:
Ho! The Long Christmas Nights, suite of Christmas songs
Spring sonata, Autumn sonata
Weeping of Saxophone
Titles for hire - see Complete catalogue