Born in Vysoké Myto, 2 Dec 1902. Czech composer and conductor. In 1930 Ponc graduated from Suk's masterclass at the Prague Conservatory. Later, in 1935 he graduated from Hába's department of quarter-tone music in 1935 with his Suite for quarter-tone piano.
Ponc studied composition with Hába (1922–3, 1925–7) and took private lessons with Schoenberg in 1927 and then in 1932. He attended lectures on acoustics and on ethnomusicology at Berlin University. He completed his piano studies with Breithaupt, and his conducting studies with Scherchen. Apart from Hába, the most powerful influence on Ponc's career came from the Berlin avant-garde group Der Sturm, of which he became a member after the exhibition of his stage designs in 1927.
He settled in Prague in 1932. Predehra k starorecké tragédii ('Overture to the Ancient Greek Tragedy') was performed at the ISCM festival in Vienna in the same year. In 1945 he founded a permanent orchestra at the Estates (later Tyl) Theatre and joined the staff of the National Theatre; he worked as a conductor and composed more than 100 sets of incidental music. Ponc also wrote music for radio (some 300 scores) and films. He died in 1976 in Prague.
Dramatic works
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Svatebcané na Eiffelce [The Wedding Couple at the Eiffel Tower] (incid music, J. Cocteau), orch, 1923
Predehra k starorecké tragédii [Ov. to an Ancient Greek Tragedy] (Arnost Dvorák: Oresteia), orch 1/4-tone, 1929
Osudy [The Fates] (ballet, 3 scenes), A, spkr, orch, 1934
Orchestral
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Preludium, 1929;
Concertino for Piano & Orchestra, 1930
Chamber pieces
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5 polydynamickych skladeb [5 Polydynamic Compositions], Op.3 for clarinet, xylophone & string quartet, 1923
Study, 2 cellos, 1/4-tone, 1924
Little Passacaglia, viola, cello, double-bass, 1/6-tone, 1924
Five small pieces op.9 for Piano & Cello (1927)
Nonet, 1932
String Trio, 1937
Milovaní Op.5 for Voice & Chamber Ensemble (1924)
Piano music
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3 études, 1/4-tone piano, 1927
Cheerful Acrostics, op.12 for Piano (1928)
Malá suita [Little Suite], for Piano (1954)
for Voice
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Ulicnické popevky [Street Urchins' Songs], song cycle, 1923
Hard to find a good works-list on him. There might be a decent biography in Czech out there - someplace. The instrumental pieces that I have heard are abstract, but listenable.
(http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Business/images-2/tumbleweed-through-ghost-town.jpg)
[audio]https://www.myinstants.com/media/sounds/crickets.swf.mp3[/audio]
Pity I couldn't meet him and say" Hey, listen Ponc".