Ullmann, Viktor

Ullmann, Viktor (b Teschen, 1898; d Auschwitz concentration camp, 1944). Austrian composer. Ass. cond. to Zemlinsky at New Ger. Th., Prague, 1920–7. Prin. cond. Aussig Opera 1927–8. As follower of Rudolf Steiner, worked in bookstore in Stuttgart before returning to Prague in 1933 to teach, write, and lecture. In Sept. 1942 was deported to Theresienstadt (Terezin) concentration camp where he organized concerts, lectured, and comp. until his removal to Auschwitz. His opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis was written in Theresienstadt and reached dress-rehearsal stage when the Nazi guards recognized its satirical portrait of Hitler. Works incl.:OPERAS: Peer Gynt (1928, lost); Der Sturz des Antichrist (1935); Der zerbrockene Krug (1940); Der Kaiser von Atlantis (1943).ORCH.: 5 Variations and Double Fugue on a Piano Piece of Arnold Schoenberg (1929); Concerto for Orchestra (1940); pf. conc. (1940); ov., Don Quixote (1943, pf. score only); Sinfonie 'Von meiner Jugend’ (reconstructed by B. Wulff) (1943).CHAMBER MUSIC: 3 str. qts. (No.3 written in Theresienstadt); Octet, pf., winds, str.; vn. sonata.PIANO: 7 sonatas.