PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Silná, Ingrid
TI  - The Prostejov Years of Vilém Steinman
DP  - 2012 Dec 11
TA  - Musicologica Olomucensia
PG  - 93--107
VI  - 16
IP  - 2
AID - 10.5507/mo.2012.013
IS  - 27879186
AB  - Vilem Steinman (1880-1962) was an important Czech choirmaster and teacher who emerged from the artistic tradition of Ferdinand Vach (1860-1939) which he further developed. He secured his first professional post after studying at the Kroměříž Teachers' Institute in Prostějov, where he taught at an elementary school for boys. From 1906, he served as choirmaster of the Orlice Male Voice Choir, (after Ezechiel Ambros), which under his leadership approached Vach's Moravian Teachers Choir in terms of performance quality. From 1911 he became conductor of Prostejov's amateur orchestra - The Orchestral Association and in 1913, choirmaster of a women's choir and educational unity known as Vlastimila (also after Ezechiel Ambros). V. Steinman united these three important Prostejov music institutions to perform large-scale cantatas such as Bruckner's Te Deum and the Hymn of the Angels by J. B. Foerster (in 1913) and organized other musical events under the working title United Associations. Among his closest collaborators were Dr. Vojtech Merka (1888-1974) and Josef Zapletal (1880-1954). In 1919 Steinman left for Brno, where he continued as a choirmaster and teacher. Although his work in Prostějov was in the initial stages of his artistic career, he nevertheless contributed significantly to the enrichment of the musical life of the city.