Othmar Schoeck

Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) was one of Switzerland's greatest composers. Although he was a student at the Zurich Conservatory, Schoeck's private courses under composer Max Reger had the most significant long-term effect on his style. Schoeck was best known for his lieder, often setting long ballads with many verses or extensive song cycles; he is known for a small body of orchestral music, the opera Penthesilea (1927) and works for chorus, as well. Essentially post-romantic, Schoeck nevertheless stretched out stylistically quite a bit and did not feel the need to be constrained by tradition when the mood to step forward struck him.