In memoriam: Oskar Morawetz, world-class Canadian composer
Oskar Morawetz, arguably Canada’s greatest internationally-known composer and
the creator of one of the 20th-century’s most acclaimed oratorios on a Jewish
theme, “From the Diary of Anne Frank,” died recently at the age of 90.
Born on January 17, 1917, in Svetla nad Sazavou, Czechoslovakia, Oskar was
the second of four children born to Freda and Richard Morawetz. He developed an
interest in music at the age of 10, when his comfortably situated family moved
to Prague. By 1932 Oskar was studying piano and theory in the Prague
Conservatory under prominent pianists Karel Hoffmeister and Jaroslav Kricka.
Oskar had such an ability to sight-read orchestral scores that George Szell,
(who later conducted the Chicago Symphony) recommended him for a position as
assistant conductor of the Prague Opera. In 1937 he moved to Vienna, then
regarded as the foremost classical music centre in Europe, to study piano. The
following year, after watching Adolf Hitler parade through Vienna and having
experienced a dramatic upsurge in anti-Semitism (including a run-in with the
Gestapo), Oskar moved back to Prague. But when Hitler occupied Prague two years
later in 1940, he fled to Canada.
Despite his youth, Oskar soonserved on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory
of Music and became a professor of composition at the University of Toronto.
Morawetz saw himself as a bridge between the atonal music that characterized
the mid-20th century and the more melodic music, which preceded Stravinsky. He
eschewed the electronic music of Stockhausen and the 12-tone system of
Schoenberg in favour of deeply-felt emotional laments which were probably
inspired by his own feelings, his own escape from Hitler and the horrific fate
of his Jewish contemporaries who were not as lucky as he was to have found a
safe refuge in Canada.
His two most famous works were based on historical tragic themes. Shortly
after the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, renowned Russian-born
cellist Mstislav Rostropovich commissioned
him to produce Memorial to Martin Luther King, which was performed throughout
the world.
In 1970 Morawetz composed his most famous work, From the Diary of Anne Frank,
which was premiered by The Toronto Symphony under the baton of a fellow
Czech-Jewish refugee, Karel Ancerl, at the time when the TSO had reached its
prime as an orchestra of world status.
Present at the TSO premiere was Victor Kugler, the man who hid Anne Frank in
Amsterdam, and the Diary’s Mr. Kraler, who lived inToronto.
At a subsequent performance, Morawetz was honoured by the presence of Israel
Prime Minister Golda Meir.
Morawetz gave his last piano performance in 1982. In 1995 he retired due to
illness.
He leaves his daughter, Claudia, who praised “his resolve to compose from the
heart rather than be inspired by current trends.” On June 28, friends gathered
in Toronto to celebrate his life. The entire Oskar Morawetz Memorial Concert can
be streamed on CBC’s Concerts on Demand Website. Along with performances of
Morawetz’s music are spoken tributes by Anton Kuerti, Jan Matejcek and Claudia
Morawetz. On July 22, on CBC-FM Radio 2, The Signal with Pat Carrabre will
devote an entire hour to the music of Oskar Morawetz.
