Šourek, Otakar
Šourek, Otakar
Šourek, Otakar, Czech writer on music; b. Prague, Oct. 1, 1883; d. there, Feb. 15, 1956. He was trained as an engineer, and although he was employed in the Prague City Council works dept. (1907–39), music was his avocation. He wrote music criticism for several publications, including Prague’s Venkov (1918–41). However, it was as an authority on the life and music of Dvořák that he gained distinction; he devoted fully 40 years to Dvorak research, and served as the first ed. of the composer’s collected works.
Writings
Život a dilo Antonína Dvořáka (The Life and Works of Dvořák; 4 vols., Prague, 1916–33; vols. I-II, third ed., 1955–56; vols. III-IV, second ed., 1957–58; in Ger. as Dvořák: Leben und Werk, one vol., abr. by P. Stefan, Vienna, 1935; Eng. tr. by Y. Vance as Anton Dvořák, N.Y., 1941); Dvořák’s Werke: Ein völlstandiges Verzeichnis in chronologischer, thematischer und systematischer Anordnung (Berlin, 1917; rev. Czech ed., Prague, 1960); Výlety pana Broučka (Mr. Brouček’s Excursions; Prague, 1920); Dvořákovy symfonie (Prague, 1922; third ed., 1948; abr. ed. in Ger. in Antonin Dvořák Werkanalysen I, Orchesterwerke, Prague, 1954, and in Eng. in The Orchestral Works of Antonín Dvořák, Prague, 1956); Antonín Dvořák (Prague, 1929; fourth ed., 1947; Eng. tr., Prague, 1952, as Antonín Dvořák: His Life and Work); Dvořákova citanka (A Dvořák Reader; Prague, 1929; third ed., 1946; Eng. tr., Prague, 1954); Dvořák ve vzpomínkach a dopisech (Prague, 1938; 9th ed., 1951; Eng. tr., Prague, 1954, as Dvořák: Letters and Reminiscences; Ger. tr., 1955; Russian tr., 1964); Smetanova Ma vlast (Prague, 1940); Antonin Dvořák přátelům doma (Dvořák to His Friends at Home; 395 letters; Prague, 1941); Antonín Dvořák a Hans Richter (Letters to Richter; Prague, 1942); Dvořákovy skladby komorni (Prague, 1943; second ed., 1949; abr. ed. in Ger. in Antonín Dvořák Werkanalysen II, Kammermusik, Prague, 1954, and in Eng. in The Chamber Music of Antonín Dvořák, Prague, 1956); Dvořákovy skladby orchestralni (2 vols., Prague, 1944 and 1946; abr. ed. in Ger. in Antonin Dvořák Werkanalysen I, Orchesterwerke, Prague, 1954, and in Eng. in The Orchestral Works of Antonin Dvořák, Prague, 1956); Komorni skladby Bedřicha Smetany (Smetana’s chamber works; Prague, 1945); Rudolf Karel (Prague, 1947).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire