Viktor Ullmann. A brief biography and appreciation

Born in Jan. 1898 in Teschen, Czechoslovakia, Ullmann studied in Vienna; in 1918-19, he was a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. From 1920-27 he served as conducting assistant to Alexander Zemlinsky in Prague, and also worked as free-lance composer and teacher. He continued as a composer and a music critic in Theresienstadt, where he had been deported in 1942. In Oct. 1944 Ullmann was sent to his death in Auschwitz. The author discusses, on the basis of his writings, Ullmann's works, of which three operas, seven piano sonatas, several song cycles, and one string quartet are extant. He then recounts his personal experiences as a pupil of Ullmann's from 1933-38. (Author, abridged)