Anatol Provazník (10 March 1887 in

Rychnov nad Kněžnou Rychnov nad Kněžnou (; german: Reichenau an der Knieschna) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Adm ...

– 24 September 1950 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

organist and composer. Anatol Provazník was son of

Alois Provazník Alois Provazník (January 9, 1856 in Prague – January 31, 1938 in Rychnov nad Kněžnou) was a Czech people, Czech composer and musical pedagogue. During 1867–1870 Provazník was a singer at the Church of St. Margaret in the Břevnov Monaste ...

, a regional composer. He studied at the gymnasium in

and then at the

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in Prague, finishing in 1907. During 1907–1911 he worked as an organist in the St Vitus Cathedral, later he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Provazník became very interested in the emerging

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

. He studied "radiophony" in Berlin and after return to

he helped to set up the music department of the

Czech Radio Český rozhlas (ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating since 1923. It is the oldest radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second oldest in Europe after the BBC. The service broadcasts throughout the Cz ...

. Since 1930 he worked, for sixteen years, as the proxy director of this department. Provazník was a friend with

Karel Hašler Karel Hašler (31 October 1879 in Prague – 22 December 1941 in Mauthausen) was a Czech songwriter, actor, lyricist, film and theatre director, composer, writer, dramatist, screenwriter and cabaretier. He was murdered in the Mauthausen concentr ...

and other artists. Provazník is author of about 240 musical works including several

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s and five

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s. He also adapted many classical

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and orchestra works to fit in radio broadcasting. These adaptations were performed for long time after his death.

Selected works

;Stage * ''Akrobat'', Comic Opera in 1 act (1928); libretto by Ladislav Novák after

Gottfried August Bell Gottfried is a masculine German given name. It is derived from the Old High German name , recorded since the 7th century. The name is composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for 'God' and 'good', and possibly further conflated with ) a ...

* ''Ghitta'', Opera in 3 acts (1937); libretto by the composer ;Orchestral * ''Valse des morts'' (1909) * ''Suita z venkova'' (Country Suite; Suite champêtre; Ländliche Suite), Op. 53 (published 1936) ;Concertante * ''Concert Fantasy'' for viola and orchestra, Op.51 (published 1930s) ;Chamber music * ''Valse joyeuse'' for violin and piano, Op.137 (published 1924) * ''Hindu Song'' for violin and piano, Op.140 (published 1924) * ''Valse triste'' for violin and piano, Op.142 (published 1924) "Le faune amoureux" Op143(published before1916,Josef Weinberger Verlag)fur violon uns klavier "Impromptu"," valse gracieuse","toccata",Op144,for violine uns klavier-josef Weinberger Verlag ,before 1916 "Les diablotins" valse ,Op85,for violine uns klavier,Josef Weinberger Verlag ;Piano * ''Ballade en souvenir du grand maître Fr. Chopin: drame passionel'', Op.130 (published 1924) * ''Valse joyeuse'', Op.137 (published 1924) ;Vocal * ''The Gardener'', 3 Songs for voice and piano, Op.131 (published 1925); words by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

* ''Chinesische Flöte'', Lieder for voice and piano, Op.132 (published 1925); words by

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...

, Seng-ju Wang and Fu Du ;Choral * ''Cantantibus organis (150. Žalm)'', Variations for soloists, chorus, organ and orchestra, Op.52 (published 1936) * ''Žalm 116'' (Psalm 116) for soprano, chorus organ and orchestra, Op.56 (published 1937)

External links

Very short biography
1887 births 1950 deaths Czech organists Male organists Czech composers Czech male composers 20th-century organists 20th-century Czech male musicians {{CzechRepublic-composer-stub