born Oct. 13, 1912, Eibenschutz, Moravia
died March 11, 1997, Manhasset, N.Y., U.S.
Czech-born U.S. composer.
Born into a musical family that had produced several generations of composers and cantors, he was raised in Baltimore, Md., U.S., from 1920. He studied composition with Roger Sessions and conducting with Fritz Reiner , also earning a doctorate in German literature from Johns Hopkins University. He is considered one of the most important U.S. opera composers for the literary quality of his chosen texts and the individuality and effectiveness of his music; his works include the operas The Tenor (1950), The Stronger (1952), and Six Characters in Search of an Author (1956); his last completed opera, Esther (1993), won wide acclaim.