Karel Moor (1873-1945): String Quartet No.2 (1902)

[violinconcerto]

Karel Moor (1873-1945) was a Czech conductor, choir master and composer. He studied in Prague, Vienna and Trieste, then worked in Pardubice and returned to Trieste around the trun of the century. At that time - in 1902 - he composed his String quartet No.2. It was composed in Trieste and composed for the "Quartetto Triestino" and therefore carries the same title: Quartetto triestino per quartetto d'archi. I recently bought the autograph manuscript of this composition which remained unpublished so far. Even worse most of the early compositions by Karel Moor are unknown today because his house with all his belongings burned down in 1912 and so many compositions are destroyed. Therefore I am happy to present the full score of the String quartet No.2 by Karel Moor on my website for free download:

https://www.tobias-broeker.de/rare-manuscripts/m-r/moor-karel/


And here is a longer biography:

Karel Moor was born on 26 December 1873 in Lazne Belohrad (Czech Republic). He first studied at the organ school in Prague under Karel Strecker, Frantisek Blazek, Karel Knittl and Augustin Vyskocil. Later he studied vocal performance in Vienna, then in Trieste.
Karel Moor first worked as a vocal reacher in Pardubice and there started to compose. After stops in again Prague and Trieste he became the conductor of the Czech Philharmonic and later of the National Theater in Brno. In 1912 the villa of Karel Moor burned down and the fire destroyed all the belongings to work in his profession as well as most of his compositions. To overcome this financial crisis Karel Moor accepts an appointment as conductor of "Choir Zoranic" in Zadar (Croatia), but quit the position shortly after due to personal and professional problems. He was then offered the position as choir master of the "Singer's Society of Spanish Jews" in Belgrade, but the outbreak of World War I ended the short tenure. Karel Moor fled from the hostile action first to Stip (Macedonia) where he worked in a school. He got wounded during a trip to Skopje, recovered at a sanatorium in Bohemia and then worked first as a Kapellmeister in Braunau am Inn, then in Ostrava, Ljubljana, Sinje, Split and finally in 1922 in Sarajevo. But Karel Moor was physically and mentally debilitated and had still financial problems, which led to the termination of his appointment in Sarajevo as well and he returned to Prague in 1923. There he worked at the newly opened Hvezda Cinema, later became bandmaster in Smichov (a district of Prague) and worked in the archive of the Czechoslovak Radio. In 1933 Karel Moor was appointed an honorary citizen of the town of Lazne Belohrad.
Karel Moor died on 30 March 1945 in Prague.
The work catalogue of Karel Moor lists more than 200 compositions. There are 10 operas like "William Ratcliff" (1904) or "The last chord" (1929), 11 operettas like "Mr. Professor in hell" (1907) and ballets. Among the orchestral works are 2 symphonic dances, a concerto for cembalo and a Romance and a Serenata No.2 for violin and orchestra. Karel Moor also composed 3 string quartets (No.1 and 2 in 1902, No.3 in 1915), a Suite for string quartet, a Piano trio, "5 Fantasies on national themes" for brass quintet and other chamber music. Among his vocal works are many songs, choral works, cantatas, masses and a Requiem.

[eschiss1]

Thanks!!

There's some more information @ Czech Wikipedia and at IMSLP (which has material for his Op.7 piano trio.)

[semloh]

violinconcerto - can we please have a reference for the biographical information? Thanks.

[eschiss1]

I assumed his biographical information was more or less translated from Czech Wikipedia (whose article seems well-endnoted, e.g. references to 1965 Československý hudební slovník osob a institucí and to this Doc file which I can't seem to open with Pages.app but I assume can be opened with Word .

[violinconcerto]

Why do you need a biographical reference?

[eschiss1]

For the same reason one ever would with a biography? "This" = one thing and good; "the evidence that allows you to say that 'This' is true", however, it is appreciated to see. "You" being a very general-you...

[semloh]

Citing your sources is a basic requirement when sharing detailed information. It also means that others need not go looking in the same place.