FORSTER, JOSEF BOHUSLAV

born Dec. 30, 1859, Prague, Bohemia, Austrian Empire [now in Czech Republic] died May 29, 1951, Nov Vestec, Czechoslovakia Frster also spelled Foerster Czech composer belonging to the school of Antonn Dvork and Bedrich Smetana. The son of the organ composer Josef Frster, he studied at the Prague Conservatory and was organist at several Prague churches and music critic of Nrodn Listy. From 1893 to 1903 he lived at Hamburg, Ger., where he became a friend of Gustav Mahler and taught at the conservatory. He was music critic of Die Zeit in Vienna (190318) and from 1919 professor (later director) at the Prague Conservatory. Frster's works were largely inspired by personal memories and religious subjects. They include five symphonies, four masses, and several operas, notably Nepromozeni (1918; The Invincibles), Srdce (1923; The Heart), and Bloud (1936; The Simpleton). Though Frster's Romantic and religious outlook suggests Mahler, his simpler, lyrical works, notably the song cycle Liebe, show his allegiance to the heritage of Dvork and Smetana.