Czech Music

[jowcol]

Jaromir Podesva: Symphonietta Festiva(1983)


From the collection of Karl Miller

Symponietta Festiva for Chamber Orchestra(1983)
Musici di Praga/Mario Klemens
[18 March 1985]
Source LP: Panton 81120533


Machine Translation from musica.cz:
Jaromír Podesva came from a family of master John Podešvy, where he had the opportunity to participate from his childhood on the family music-making (if already played on the piano, the violin and viola). At an early age he began to compose songs, growing up from the then still supporting initiatives of the dvořákovsko-novákovské school. After the graduation at the gymnasium in Brno-židenice, in 1948, he graduated from a one-year Bachelor course at the Brno Conservatory (1946-47), then in the years 1947-53 he studied composition at the JANÁČEK ACADEMY of Jaroslav Kvapil and this teacher went on a three-year aspirantuře Academy in Brno.

In the years 1956-59 he served as Secretary of the creative Union of Czechoslovak composers in Prague and was later Chairman of the Brno University of technology of the Federal branch. From 1969 he taught at the Ostrava Conservatory of music composition and music theory (in 1990).

The eight-month study-scholarship of UNESCO-in the countries of Europe and in the USA západni (1960-61) significantly influenced Podešvův kompozični style. Recognized here. the song was the most influential Western European composers to h. Stockhausena, p. Boulez, and Arthur Honegger's and studied with h. Dutilleuxe and a. Copland. Their findings published in popularizačně aimed the book "contemporary music in the West" (Panton, 1963). His own compositional practice certified kompozični principles to generalise in a musically theoretical writings of the "options" field in the dvanáctitónovém cadenza (Panton, 1974) and "Introduction to the study of song" (rkp)

[jowcol]

Pavel Novak: Chamber Symphony for 10 Instruments


From the collection of Karl Miller


Chamber Symphony for 10 Instruments
South Bohemian State Orchestra of Ceske
Budejovice/Jaroslav Vodnansky
Source LP:  Panton 810844




Pavel Novak Blurb by David Matthews:
In describing the performance of three extraordinary pieces by the Czech composer Pavel Novák, I have to begin by declaring an interest in my capacity as Artistic Director of the Deal Summer Music Festival, at which he was a featured composer. Novák was born in Brno in 1957, and has achieved a high reputation in Moravia, where he is now acknowledged to be the leading composer of his generation. He is not yet well known outside the Czech Republic, although the Schubert Ensemble have commissioned three pieces from him – Lord, We Seek the Song of the Chosen for piano trio (1991); Royal Funeral Procession to Iona for piano quintet (1995); St Mary Variations for piano quartet (2000) – and have played them in Britain and abroad. Novák's teacher, Miloslav IÎtvan, was a pupil of Janácek's pupil Jaroslav Kvapil, and Novák, more than any other composer in Moravia, seems the true inheritor of the Janácek tradition. That tradition remains a vital force in Brno, partly because Janácek is the most local of composers and his music still, and in a vital way, haunts his home town with its Janácek Academy (where Novak studied), and the Janácek Theatre (where Novak played the oboe for a number of years in the opera orchestra) at which Janácek's operas are performed as nowhere else, players and singers alike attuned to the Moravian dialect; partly through the continuing vitality of Moravian folksong, whose spirit and melodic contours inform Novák's music as they did Janácek's.

[jowcol]

Arnost Parsch: Symphony

From the collection of Karl Miller

Symphony
Zdenek Divoky, Horn
Martinu Zlin PO/Milos Konvalinka



Bio from musicbase.cz

The composer Arnost Parsch began his formal training as a composer at a relatively late age. Originally economist by profession, he was 27 years old when he began to study composition at the Janacek Academy of Arts in Brno. However, he had already acquired a good grounding in music theory and the fundamentals of composition, partly by studying 20th century music scores on his own and partly through private lessons with Jaromir Podesva and Miloslav Istvan. His attention was caught early by the post-Webern development of European music. One year after graduation from the Janacek Academy he left his original profession to become secretary of the Brno regional section of the Union of Czechoslovak Composers and Concert Artists. In 1977 he became Secretary and Head of Secretariat of the Brno International Music Festival. Until recently he had been also teaching as a professor of the Janacek Academy. In the course of his studies of composition he was testing serial, dodecaphonic, aleatoric and timbre techniques in chamber compositions, sought inspiration in graphic scores and sculpture (Trasposizioni I, II, III). His liking for cybernetics and electro-acoustic instruments led him to electroacoustic studios of Czechoslovak Radio in Brno and Plzen, where he carried out a series of his electroacoustic and concrete music projects. At the turn of the sixties he participated, within a team of composers from Brno, in the creation of several experimental collective compositions. He has also co-operated with his colleague and friend M. Stedron, a composer and musicologist, in a number of original projects of non-traditional compositions. Distinct leaning towards musical folklore has been a new element in Parsch's creation since the mid-seventies. Moravian folk music intonations appeared already in third movement of Second String Quartet dedicated to the memory of P. Neruda, and in the subsequent composition called "The Bird Flew Up Above the Clouds" Parsch developed his own variation technique, making use of dozens variants of a Moravian-Slovak folk song in a very effective concertante style composition. Gradually he has been abandoning direct quotations of folk resources and, drawing from the oldest sources of Moravian folk song, he used modal techniques in his own way. This orientation continued to permeat Parsch's instrumental, orchestral and vocal creation until recently.


Bio from Musica.cz(Machine Translation)

Arnošt Parsch was the original economist and first studied composition privately with Jaromír Podešvy (1955-56) and Miloslava Ištvana (1956-1963). In the years 1963-69 he studied composition at the Janáček Academy of performing arts in the class of Ernesto Ištvana, and in the following years he also completed postgraduate studies in "experimental music". A year after graduating from the ACADEMY, left their original jobs, and in 1969 he joined the post of Secretary of the regional branch in Brno SČSKU. in 1977, he moved to the Secretary and the head of the secretariat function of the international rodního Music Festival in Brno (in 1993). Since 1990, the působíl at the music faculty of JAMU as internal teacher of composition and theory of music (Professor).

In his compositions he used a number of technical resources. "New music", inspired by the graphic partiturami and artistic objects (Trasposizioni I, II, III). In the early days was influenced by the leaders of the so-called. "Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern) and their teachers, m. Ištvana, a. Piňos, and others. He also was intrigued by the works of the composers. "Polish school" of Witold Lutoslawski in particular. In his works from the 1960s. and 70. apply the principles of composition of the contemporary years (small, témbrová music, aleatoric music interval series, etc.) In radio studios in Pilsen and Brno created several electro-acoustic compositions, in which he applied his compositional method, "the transformation of specific audio events". This rational method later used in a number of their Chamber, orchestral and vocal works: Sonata for Chamber Orchestra, Symphony No. 2, mixed choir, brass sextet hold tight! aj.

In the mid-1970s. years in the Parschově formation are more to discover the folklore elements. The first notable composition neofolklorní stylish orientation is třívětá concertante composition fták hore Flew above the clouds. In addition to citing the three variants of the folk ballads (Vladimír Úlehla enlisted in the guard) in the hobojovém gang at the beginning of each sentence, and fragments of other variants of this song for the construction of the tonal and rhythmic "terrains". The use of natural modalities is characteristic for its creation to the present. His interest in the study and use of the various elements of ethnic music gradually expanded on folk and traditional music of cultural circuits of all continents. The capitalisation of that found in his song the most welcoming of spring. In the course of the 1990s. years, in his skladbávch also appear increasingly individually conceived elements. "new simplicity". This trend is evident especially in the compositions for Chamber Orchestra-the voice of the River, rose garden, quiet countryside and in Chamber vocal cycles and resurrection, Three Blue Poems, the river flows quietly, in the two-cycle As Mint in his hands even in songs for various Chamber groups-Narrowing for flute and violin, and "... ausufernd" for bass clarinet and piano, orchestral imagination of Una voce, etc.

On the international show of contemporary music Prague premieres 2006 was carried out with success the talented clarinetist Emil Drápelou and Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice with Leoš Svárovský bee Parschova fantasy-Concerto for clarinet and Orchestra.

[jowcol]

Modr: Symphony 2

From the collection of Karl Miller

Symphony No. 2
Prague SO/Frantisek Belfin?


Bio Machine-translated from Czech Wikipedia

Antonín Modr (May 17, 1898, Strašice-April 22, 1983, Prague) was a Czech musicologist and composer.

Life

Started as a worker and amateur musician in the Strašicích. He played in military bands in Rovereto in Italy and Slovakia Saturday schools. After the 1. After World War II, he studied at the Prague Conservatory in violin with Rudolf Reissiga and composition with Josef Suk. From 1923 to 1927 he was the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra played the Viola, he then played in the Orchestra of the National Theatre, and in the years 1934-1936 in the Symphonic Orchestra of the Prague radio. Radio Orchestra also occasionally drove. Led the folk art files, and was choirmaster of the choir Lukes. At the Conservatoire he taught theoretical subjects and play the guitar and the old tools. In 1949 he went into retirement and only externally, he taught at the higher musical pedagogic school.

His songwriting work on the public not to make too much. However, the great importance of his theoretical work. The book "musical instruments" was published in several editions, not only in the former Czechoslovakia, but also abroad.

[jowcol]

Music of Osvald Chlubna


From the collection of Karl Miller

Symphony "The Beskiels" Op. 40
Brno State Orchestra/Jan Styel?

Brněnské kašny a fontány, Op 86 (1963)
Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra/Otakar Trhlik
LP Source: Supraphon DM 5697



NOTE: The Op # for the Symphony does not agree with Kyjo's Work List for the composer.  Any of you scholars out there have insight?

Brněnské kašny a fontány is one of four symphonic poems from a cycle entitled: "To my country".
Wikipedia Bio:
Osvald Chlubna (July 22, 1893, Brno – October 30, 1971, Brno) was a prominent Czech composer. Intending originally to study engineering, Chlubna switched his major and from 1914 to 1924, he studied composition with Leoš Janáček. Until 1953, he worked as a clerk. Later, he taught at the Organ School in Brno for many years. He worked in many art organisations in Brno. Chlubna's works can be defined by three distinct periods: Romanticism, Impressionism, all the way to the Modern Constructivism. He delved into Symbolism as well. He used the texts of symbolic Czech poets, such as Otakar Březina, Jaroslav Vrchlický, Jaroslav Durych and others. He wrote several cycles of compositions for piano and organ, as well as instrumental concerts, symphonies, ouvertures and cantatas. He wrote many operas, often using his own librettos, such as The Revenge of Catullus based on the work of Vrchlický (1917), Alladina and Palomid (based on the work of Maeterlinck, 1925), Ňura (1932), How the Death came in the World (1936), Jiří from Kunštát and Poděbrady (based on the work of Alois Jirásek, 1941), Cradle (composed on the work of Jirásek, 1951), Eupyros (1960). He also wrote texts and articles primarily about Janáček.

[jowcol]

Jan Kapr Symphony 8


From the collection of Karl Miller

Symphony 8 "Campanee Pragensis"
Marius Rinzler, Rosala Kossuth, soloists

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Zdenek Macal, Conductor


Bio from musicbase.cz

Biography

The composer Jan Kapr had devoted himself to music from his early childhood. After a serious injury at the age of 16, he did so exclusively. He graduated at the Prague Conservatory and then in composition at its senior school under the professors Jaroslav Ridky and Jaroslav Kricka. After the graduation he was engaged as a music producer of Radio Prague for 7 years, in 1950-52 he was the chief editor of the publishing house Orbis. In 1961-72 he was employed as a teacher in composition at Janacek Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and he had educated a number of the foremost Czech composers, including Milan Slavicky and Evzen Zamecnik. Jan Kapr is also the author of several outstanding theoretical assays and of the book "Konstanty" (Constants), giving an individual synthesis of contemporary musical trends. The centre of his life-long activity, however, lies in his compositional work. In Jan Kapr's compositional output of the forties and the fifties the theme of patriotic love of the native country (The Hymn on the Native Country, The Home) was prevailing and the author' s attitude to subjects of sport is also showing up there (Marathon, The Olympic Symphony). In post-war years Kapr had also composed a great number of film music scores. His extensively tonal idiom, characteristic of this period, had changed substantially during the sixties, the composer began to be interested in modern compositional techniques, devoted an increased attention to the sonic colour. He investigated the articulatory possibilities of various instruments and of the human voice (Exercises for Gydli, Testimony, Rotation 9, Oscillation a.o.), he experimented with the then new sonic resources and their combinations together with the traditional ones (e.g. The Ciphers, with the share of electronic sounds). During this period many significant chamber works came into existence, and since the seventies also monumental works have been created, synthetizing the author' s life-long tendency towards new complexity. Besides extensive symphonic and vocal-symphonic works (7th symphony "The Scenery of Childhood", 8th symphony "Campanae Pragenses", 9th symphony "Josef Manes" and the 10th symphony "Lanzhotska"), also important vocal compositions came into existence, inspired by stimulations both from world (Guten Morgen, Stern, Vendenges) and Czech literatures (The Astronomical Clock of Manes), along with a number of remarkable chamber works (Chess Sonata for 2 pianos, 4th Piano Sonata, 8th String Quartet, Woodcuts, Colours of Silence etc.). Jan Kapr's structurally and sonically rich idiom in this later period was getting always more expressive emotional urgency. Some of Kapr's compositions from his mature period had become internationally known. Exercises for Gydli, Dialogues for flute and harp and a number of author's following chamber and vocal works have reached numerous repeats in many countries, his compositions were successful at the International Compositional Tribune UNESCO, having become the subject of interest with domestic and foreign publishers and interpreters. Kapr's compositions have also been included into radio broadcasts of many countries: one of the most significant successes of Kapr's production was in this respect in 1980 the Munich concert and simultaneously the radio world premiere of his 8th symphony "Campanae Pragenses" in the series of concerts of the Bavarian radio programme Musica viva.

[jowcol]

Music of Ivan Kurz

From the collection of Karl Miller

Symphony 1
Prague SO/Jiri Kout

Symphony 2
Prague SO/Adam Klemens




You may wish to view these rips from "Classical Music from Old Vinyls" on Youtube
Inclined Plane on YouTube


Parable for Symphony Orchestra



Bio from www.musicbase.cz:
BiographyThe composer Ivan Kurz represents the generation of composers who asserted themselves in the course of the seventies. He had a thorough preparation: in 1964-1966 he studied privately music theory with Karel Risinger, then he was a student of the Faculty of Music of the Prague Academy of Perfoming Arts (with Emil Hlobil, 1966-1971). After one-year military service at the Army School of Music, he completed his education as a postgraduate with Vaclav Dobias at the Academy of Performing Arts (1973-1976). Since 1977 he has been employed as a teacher of composition and orchestration at the Faculty of Music. In 1996 he was appointed professor, and became the head of the compositional department.

Ivan Kurz is a type of a versatile composer. He is also prolific and very succesful in the field of incidental and film music. His music to TV series The Waxworks of the City of Prague, and The Gendarme Humoresques in particular, were highly acclaimed and have become very popular with the wide public.

Kurz considers expression of ideas (whether musical or ‘extra-musical‘) as the substance of his musical message, and the simplest means often as the most effective. He prefers simple motivic basis, trim concordant system and clean-cut formal division. There is an astonishingly wide range of Kurz's artistic inspirations including not only nature and literature, but also philosophy, theology and - especially in his more recent works - Christian mysticism. Symphonic picture "Inclined Plane" (1979) became a certain milestone in his creation: it strives for simplification and the achievement of a minimum of expressional elements used without reducing thereby the spectrum of his spiritual message. His long-term symphonic composition project culminated in the highly metaphorical symphonic picture I Come to Thee (1988). In the nineties he wrote a four-parts oratorio cycle At The End Of Time to the texts of Marian apparitions during the 20th century in Fatima, Lourdes and other places. For his compositions he was awarded several times: 1974 piano suite Five-leaf Clover won first prize at the Competition of Young Composers of Young Composers, organized by the then Czech Ministry of Culture; 1974 Concertino for Piano, Flute, Percussion and Strings won first prize "Generation" competition in Ostrava, 1976 Symphony No 2 - first prize at the Competition, and 1980 his song-cycle Flying Carpet won the prize of the Union of Czech Composers and Concert Artists.

[cjvinthechair]

Great 'steer' to the vinyls, thanks !

[Elroel]

Sometimes you think you know pretty much of the music from a certain country, as I do with the Czech and Slovak music.
Many composers are known by name and the titles of their works.

Antonín Modr, is such a composer. Never heard anything of his works, beside a short work for winds, when visiting a concert in Olomouc.

So MANY THANKS to Jowcol and Carl Miller who pleasantly surprised me with his Second Symphony. Now I'm eager to hear the first!

The symphony of Osvald Chlubna was the next surprise. 8)

[Dundonnell]

You are uploading music faster than I can download it ;D ;D ;D

[jowcol]

Colin, I must confess that I was thinking of you (and laughing fiendishly) when I started yesterday's posting marathon.  I figured I'd keep you very busy.

I've found a BBC Editor that lets me author the posts while I'm ripping the discs and gathering material.  It makes the process of posting  much easier.

[Dundonnell]

Colin, I must confess that I was thinking of you (and laughing fiendishly) when I started yesterday's posting marathon.  I figured I'd keep you very busy.

I've found a BBC Editor that lets me author the posts while I'm ripping the discs and gathering material.  It makes the process of posting  much easier.

 :) :) :)

It is not just the downloading...it is the unzipping, the copying to the correct location, the further copying of a backup version, the cataloguing...and all on top of trying to prepare for a visit to London next week ::)  But-of course-thank you very much for all your efforts :)  Now....whether or not I can ever find the time to listen to all of these ::) ::)

[cjvinthechair]

Colin, I must confess that I was thinking of you (and laughing fiendishly) when I started yesterday's posting marathon.  I figured I'd keep you very busy.

I've found a BBC Editor that lets me author the posts while I'm ripping the discs and gathering material.  It makes the process of posting  much easier.

 :) :) :)

It is not just the downloading...it is the unzipping, the copying to the correct location, the further copying of a backup version, the cataloguing...and all on top of trying to prepare for a visit to London next week ::)  But-of course-thank you very much for all your efforts :)  Now....whether or not I can ever find the time to listen to all of these ::) ::)

Yes, you're right, Mr. D. Just about caught up with all the marvellous uploads yesterday...but listening to them - quite another matter !

[Bobyor]

Many thanks for Chlubna especially. I have visited the organ school in Brno and stayed in the almost next-door hotel continental on many occasions! I have scores of quite a few of his piano pieces ...

[jowcol]

Zdenek Lukas: Symphony No. 2


From the collection of Karl Miller


Symphony 2
Montgomery County Youth Orchestra/Chester Petranek


 

From www.zdenek-lukas.cz

Zdeněk Lukáš (21. 8. 1928 - 13. 7. 2007)

After graduating from the Teachers Institute, he worked for several years as a teacher. It was at Pilsen radio station (1953-1964) where Z. Lukáš, a program staff, started developing his compositions, which he performed together with the Pilsen Radio Orchestra and its leading soloists, and also with a choir Česká píseň (Czech Song), which Z. Lukáš founded in 1954 and was its leader for nearly 20 years. His compositional self-education was completed between 1961 and 1970 by inspiring consultations with Miloslav Kabeláč. Since 1964 Z. Lukáš began to devote himself purely to composing (even though he taught at the Prague Conservatory for short periods of time and conducted the Czechoslovakian Ensemble of Songs and Dances for some years).

Compositional development of Z. Lukáš starts from simple styling of authentic folklore to the works, in which he applies his unique approach to folk art. His fascination with Czech folk constantly accompanies his work and is typical for him. Naturally, he went also through a period in which he tried to test modern compositional techniques. During this time he worked in the very well equipped electro-acoustic studio in Pilsen. His distinctive compositional synthesis, which is mature and its key feature includes the modal base composition and typical metro-rhythmic variability, resulted in tens of great compositions and many awards for number of them.

His extensive work includes 354 opus songs and countless arrangements of folk songs and dances. A significant part of his work is devoted to choral music, which - being very popular with amateur choirs -has earned Z. Lukáš a status of the most selling Czech author. His symphonic work contains more than twenty compositions and includes seven symphonies. The top work of his musical and dramatic stage production is opera Falkenštejn and Shakespeare's musical comedy Veta za vetu (Measure for Measure),  which was realised in Pilsen. Many compositions in his creative development are concert type works, e.g. concerts with an orchestra of almost all instruments, including a concert for string quartet and a symphony orchestra. Compositions for a chamber orchestra are extensively represented, along with tens of compositions for large brass band and nearly a hundred compositions of chamber music in various combinations (five string quartets, two piano quartets, two woodwind quintets, brass quintet, pieces for violin, viola, cello, harpsichord, clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, harp, etc.). More than two dozen songs are solo voice with orchestral or other accompaniment.


I must admit that I'm intrigued by the orchestra- my kids both play in Loudoun County Youth Orchestra, which is just across the Potomac river from Montgomery County.

History of the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra from myco.org:


The Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (MCYO), formerly the Montgomery County Youth Orchestras, has a long and eventful history. Founded in 1946, MCYO has continued a vibrant orchestral program for talented youth.The mission of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras is to nurture, develop and advance young talented musicians in a quality orchestral program. The MCYO program creates a seamless connection between the artistic and the educational experience. MCYO now enjoys its first permanent home in the grand Music Center at Strathmore.Over the years, MCYO has added several ensembles to expand its outreach to talented youth. With the help and support of public school music teachers, private school music teachers, and private studio music teachers, the caliber and number of musicians has increased dramatically. The Symphony was formed in 1964, the Young Artists in 1972, the Chamber Strings in 1995, the Harp Ensemble in 2001, and the Sinfonia in 2004. Currently there are over 400 young musicians involved in MCYO selected from over 1200 aspiring musicians.Many honors have been bestowed upon MCYO. In 1964, in Philadelphia, the Philharmonic performed at the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) Bicentennial Conference. In 1969, the Philharmonic was the first American orchestra to perform at the International Festival of Youth in Switzerland. In 1981, the Philharmonic was the first youth orchestra to be showcased at the Kennedy Center. Hundreds of thousands of listeners, live and on the radio, heard the Philharmonic on the WMAL Christmas Eve day concert, “Live from the Kennedy Center.” This was a longstanding tradition through 2003. In 1987, the Symphony was selected to perform at the MENC Eastern Division Conference in Baltimore. In 1995, the Philharmonic and Symphony toured England and Wales. Later that year, the Philharmonic was invited to and performed at the prestigious Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. Two years later, the Philharmonic again performed at the MENC Eastern Division Conference in Baltimore. In 1999, the Philharmonic traveled to Austria, touring four cities as part of the Johann Strauss Centennial Celebration. In 2000, the Philharmonic was one of twenty music ensembles from across the USA selected from over two hundred applicants to perform at the MENC National Conference in Washington, DC. In June 2002, the Philharmonic made its Carnegie Hall debut in New York City. Also, in 2002, MCYO changed its name from Montgomery County Youth Orchestras to Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras keeping the acronym MCYO.

Philharmonic members annually perform with the National Symphony on the NSO Youth Orchestra Day. Select MCYO musicians participate in the NSO Fellowship program, and participate in master classes with renowned soloists and teachers. From 1996, various MCYO musicians have performed with the National Symphony Summer Music Institute. Since 1997, select MCYO musicians have augmented the National Festival Orchestra in New York City, performing with college, conservatory and select high school musicians from across the US and Canada in Carnegie Hall.

Many MCYO alumni have continued their music studies at preeminent institutions. Some have performed with prestigious American and European Orchestras and some have become music teachers. MCYO has made its mark on the music world!
- See more at: http://mcyo.org/?page_id=25#sthash.htVNgs2a.dpuf