Emmert's ancestors came from the north of Bavaria, in the area around Weiden, Waldmünchen, and Ippesheim. Their history is documented in the local books until the beginning of the 17th century. Gregor Emmert, father of the composer, was born in Bavaria, and the Emmert family moved to Bohemia after World War I.[1]
As a Catholic, Emmert was never a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[3] He represented an alternative to the "Compositional School of Brno" (rationally and numerically composed music by Miloslav Ištvan and Alois Piňos), and many later Brno composers, including Pavel Zemek, cite him as an influence. In the 1970s, he became one of the key composers for the Husa na Provázku Theatre, where he composed an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Demons. He also established himself as a composer of symphonic music, with 25 completed symphonies. His chamber and vocal music is inspired by the spiritual meaning of the Catholic Church and mysticism.
Initially, Emmert's music was heavily inspired by spiritual German music with emphasis on traditional counterpoint. His early work, until 1975, is marked by avant-garde and its typical signs are aleatoric, multiserialism or timbre music. From the second half of the 1970s, he went back to his roots as his faith returned. His work was then marked by older compositional techniques and influences of the romanticism and medieval music (Guillaume de Machaut). His perception of postmodernism slightly differed from the standards; Emmert did not work with citations, he just arranged harmony.[6] He was one of the first Czech composers who could be labelled as postmodernist.[citation needed] His later symphonies from the 21st century (Symphony No. 18 and after) are composed for large symphonic orchestras, usually scored in biform and polytempo for non-traditional instruments such as clarina and baritone oboe.[7] These aspects mark Emmert's final stage of composition. Most of his symphonies are subtitled. Symphony No. 25 was the last of Emmert's work premiered, on 1 June 2017 in Brno, by the Ensemble Opera Diversastring orchestra, with soloists Milan Pal’a (viola), Marek Pal’a (organ) and Jarmila Balážová (mezzosoprano), and conducted by Ondrej Olos.[8]
^Čtveráčková, Petra. Kritická edice 25. symfonie Františka Gregora Emmerta. Bachelor Thesis, Musicology Department at Masaryk University, Brno, 2014. p.9
^Spáčilová, Jana, "Emmert, František", Český hudební slovník osob a institucí (accessed 22 Feb 2018).
^Dlask, Vojtěch. Dosavadní symfonické dílo Františka Gregora Emmerta. Diploma Thesis, Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Brno, 2005. p.6
^Čolović, Sofija. Kritická edice cyklu Nirmal Hridaj Františka Emmerta. Diploma Thesis, Musicology Department at Masaryk University, Brno, 2014. p.8
^Laborová, Anna. František Gregor Emmert: 22. symfonie 2000 Laudate Dominum. Kritická edice. Diploma Thesis, Musicology Department at Masaryk University, Brno, 2016. p.11
^Čolović, Sofija. František Gregor Emmert: Katalog orchestrálních skladeb. Diploma Thesis, Musicology Department at Masaryk University, Brno, 2016. p.14
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Štědroň, Miloš.『Jaká je hudba Františka Emmerta?』Opus musicum, vol. 22, no. 6, 1990, pp. 183–185.
Štědroň, Miloš.『Koncerty SČSKU v Brně.』Hudební rozhledy, vol. 41, no. 3, 1988, pp. 112–113.
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Veverica, Julian. Filozofický pohľad na dielo Františka Emmerta z pozice interpreta. Diploma Thesis, Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Brno, 2012.
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