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Komorous, Rudolf (b. December 8, 1931,
Prague). Czech-born Canadian composer of mostly orchestral and chamber works
that have been performed very successfully across Europe and North America.
Mr. Komorous studied
bassoon (with Karel Pivonka) at the Prague Conservatory of Music from 1946-52,
and then studied both bassoon (with Pivonka) and composition with Pavel
Borkovec at the Academy of Musical Arts in Prague from 1952-59.
He was first bassoonist in
the Prague Opera Orchestra from 1952-59 and 1961-68. In 1957, he won first
prize at the Concours International d’Exécution Musicale in Geneva and from
1959-61, he taught bassoon and chamber music at the Central Conservatory in
Beijing.
Upon his return to
Czechoslovakia, he was co-founder (and bassoonist from 1961-68) of Musica Viva
Pragensis, an ensemble that specialized in the performance of new music. Mr.
Komorous immigrated to Canada in 1969 and lectured as Macalester College in St.
Paul, Minnesota in 1970-71. He then moved to Victoria and began teaching at the
University of Victoria in 1971, where he became Professor of Composition and
Theory and later became Director of the School of Music. From 1989-94, he
served as Director of the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser
University.
Arraymusic, the Esprit Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, The Netherlands Radio Orchestra, New Music Concerts, the SWF-Sinfonieorchester, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Vancouver New Music Ensemble, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, among others, have performed his works.
In addition, soloists such as pianists Cornelius Cardew, Eve Egoyan and Frederic Rzewski, guitarist Norbert Kraft and baroque flautist Elissa Poole have played his music, which has also been conducted by Michael J. Baker, Ernest Bour, George Corwin, Alex Pauk, Jac van Steen, Simon Streatfeild, and Owen Underhill.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: hkomorou@uvic.ca
Street address: Mr. Rudolf Komorous,
978 Carolwood Dr., Victoria, BC V8X 3V1, Canada
Telephone: 250 658 8776
Fax: 250 658 1406
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE: Lady Blancarosa (opera, libretto by the
composer), soprano, countertenor, actor, 1964-66; No no miya (chamber opera, libretto by the composer, after Zeami
Motokiyo), soprano, baritone, speaker, dancer, 4 mixed voices, flute (+
piccolo), alto flute (+ piccolo), bass flute (+ piccolo), bass clarinet, alto
saxophone, viola, cello, bass guitar, piano, percussion, 1988
ORCHESTRAL: Bare and Dainty, orchestra (2 English
horns, 2 basset horns, 4 bassoons, 6 French horns, 4 trombones, piano, 2 harps,
marimba, 2 vibraphones, 6 violas, 6 celli, 6 double basses), 1969-70; Rossi, small orchestra (16 players),
1974, revised 1975; Serenade,
strings, 1982 (arrangement and revision of Trio);
Sinfony No. 1, ‘Stardust’, 1988; Demure Charm, flute obbligato, bassoon,
string orchestra, 1990; Sinfony No. 2, ‘Canadian’,
large orchestra, 1990; Sinfony No. 3, ‘Ex
C’, string orchestra, 1995; Chamber
Concerto, bassoon, orchestra, 1995; Sinfony
No. 4, ‘La tireuse de cartes’,
small orchestra, 1997; Sinfony No. 5, 'The Spiffy Nude', small orchestra (3 flutes, 3 English
horns, timpani, 3 violas, 3 double basses), 2001; Sinfony No. 6, 'Verdigris', 2002
CHAMBER MUSIC: Duettino, clarinet, bassoon, 1954; Still Life with Florets, clarinet, bass
clarinet, bassoon, 3 violas, suspended cymbal, 1961; The Sweet Queen, bass harmonica, melodica, piano, bass drum, 1962; Olympia, bass harmonica, melodica,
flexatone, acolyte bells, sleighbells, ratchet, nightingale, 1964; Mignon, any 4 bowed strings, 1965; Minute Waltz, melodica, cowbell, 1965; Chanson, guitar, viola, clock spiral,
1965; York, flute, oboe/trumpet,
bassoon, mandolin, double bass, piano, triangle, 1967; Piccolomini, 4 piccolos, 1967; The
Gloomy Grace, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet,
trombone, violin, viola, cello, piano, cowbell, nightingale, 1968; Untitled 2, trumpet, 1973; Untitled 3, 2 flutes, oboe, bassoon, 2
trumpets, violin, double bass, harpsichord, vibraphone, 1974; Untitled 4, 4 oboes, 2 trumpets, violin,
1974; Untitled 5, flute, French horn,
viola, double bass, 1974; Preludes for 13
Early Instruments, 3 recorders, 3 crumhorns, 3 viols, 18-string psaltery,
portative organ, harpsichord, handbells, 1974; Untitled 6, viola da gamba, harpsichord, 1976; Midnight Narcissus, alto flute, English horn, cello, piano,
triangle, 1977; About Scales, flute,
trombone, violin, viola, cello, piano, vibraphone, 1979; Amaryllis, guitar, 1981; Trio,
violin, viola, cello, 1981 (also arranged and revised as Serenade); Fumon Manga,
flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1981, revised 1983; Quartettino (Les amours jaunes), bassoon, violin, viola, cello, 1983; Passacaille, bass flute, harpsichord,
1985; Tango (Seven Autumn Haiku and Three Winter Tanka), tenor recorder, alto
flute, bass harmonica, guitar, violin, viola, bass guitar, electric piano, alto
melodica, vibraphone, percussion, 1985-86; The
Necklace of Clear Understanding, baroque flute, 1986; Nocturne for Winds (The
Rainbow of Forgetting), flute, oboe, A-clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon,
contrabassoon, French horn, 1986; Ritratto
di Laura Battiferri, 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, 1989; Aokigahara, bass flute, thing-spa, 1989;
Dames’ Rocket, clarinet, trumpet, double bass, piano, vibraphone,
marimba, 1991; Hermione Dreaming,
baroque ensemble, 1992 (also arranged for clarinet, violin, viola, cello,
piano, 2000); Slow Rant Boogie,
flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, piano, percussion, 1994; Seven Sides of Maxine’s Silver Die, piano, ensemble (9
players), 1997-98; Lurid Bride, alto
flute, oboe, bass clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, piano, percussion,
1999; The White Shift (String Quartet No. 1), 2000; Like that Drake,
flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, electric guitar, violin, viola, cello, piano,
accordion, 2000; Aurélia, bass flute,
bass clarinet, basset horn, 2 violins, 3 violas, 2 celli, 2 double basses, 2
anvils, 2001; The Atonement (String Quartet No. 2), 2002
CHORAL: An Anna Blume (text by Kurt Schwitters),
mixed chorus, 1971 (also version with English text as Eve Blossom has Wheels, mixed chorus, 1971); Vermilion Dust (text by Li Shang-yin [translated by James J.Y.
Liu]), baritone, mixed chorus, small orchestra, 1980, revised 1984; Li Ch’ing Chao Madrigals, small
mixed chorus, 1985
VOCAL: Twenty-three Poems about Horses (text by Li-Ho [translated by J.D.
Frodsham]), speaker, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, violin,
viola, cello, double bass, 1978 (also arranged for speaker, orchestra, 1985); Wang Wei Songs, baritone, piano,
1974-84; Cold Mountain Songs (text by
Han Shan [translated by Red Pine]), soprano, cello, 1987
PIANO: Le trille du diable, 1964; Slowfox, 1973; The Chinese Box, 2000
ELECTROACOUSTIC: The Tomb of Malevich, tape, 1965; Gone, tape, 1969; Dingy Yellow, soprano saxophone, piano, tape, 1972; Untitled 1, 2-track tape, 1973; The Grand Chopper, 4-track tape, 1974
(later incorporated into Anatomy of
Melancholy); Anatomy of Melancholy,
tapes, 1974 (incorporates The Grand
Chopper); Listening to the Rain,
2-track tape, 1986
ARRANGEMENTS: Trois Mélodies (Érik Satie), soprano,
string quartet, 1986; Geneviève de
Brabant (Érik Satie), flute, oboe, bass clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello,
double bass, percussion, 1989
(Last updated on June 18, 2002)
