Jaroslav Krček (born 22 April 1939) is a Czech radio producer, conductor, inventor of musical instruments and composer of classical and folk music.

Biography

Jaroslav Krček was born in Čtyři Dvory, today a part of

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; german: Budweis ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 93,000 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is t ...

South Bohemian Region The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part ...

. He studied at the B. Jeremiáš School of Music in České Budějovice before studying composition with

Miloslav Kabeláč Miloslav Kabeláč (1 August 1908 – 17 September 1979) was a prominent Czech composer and conductor. Miloslav Kabeláč belongs to the foremost Czech symphonists, whose work is sometimes compared with Antonín Dvořák's and Bohuslav Martin ...

and conducting with Bohumír Liška, both at

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...

. Krček was the musical director for

Plzeň Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita ...

Radio and the music editor for the recording company

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. T ...

. He is the artistic leader and performer in the folklore group Chorea Bohemica (founded 1967), for which he has composed and adapted a number of songs and dances. Musica Bohemica, a chamber ensemble specialising in Czech (Bohemian) Christmas songs, was created in 1975 by Krček as an offspring of Chorea Bohemica. Some of Krček's music is inspired by early

Czech music Music of the Czech Republic comprises the musical traditions of that state or the historical entities of which it is compound, i.e. the Czech lands (Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesia). Czech music also constitutes a substantial part of the music c ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

songs, 16th century hymn books and

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

music. Also interested in folk music of the 18th and 19th centuries, Krček has arranged several hundred folksongs and folk dances. He has done extensive and systematic individual, creative work in the realisation of folklore and anonymous musical works. Krček has recorded more than fifty albums of his own compositions and folk songs.

Raab: an electronic opera

''Raab'' (aka Raab The Harlot) or ''Nevěstka Raab (The Prostitute Raab)'' is one of Krček's most renowned compositions. It was created in the ''Prague Electronic Music Studio'' in 1970–71. It is often described as an electronic opera, or electroacoustic oratorio. It was banned by the communist regime in 1972, and it was never staged in Czechoslovakia until the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

of 1989. Plot The story of Raab (

Rahab Rahab (; Arabic: راحاب, a vast space of a land) was, according to the Book of Joshua, a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city ...

in English, Rachav in Hebrew) is based on the account of the Fall of

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

as told in the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...

. A Jewish king was planning to conquer the town: ''Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho. They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there'' oshua 2:1 Rahab helps the two spies and hides them from the King of Jericho's guards, thus helping the Israelites conquer Jericho. The libretto is by Zdeněk Barborka using an invented language approximating

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

, the vernacular language of the Jews during most of the Biblical era. The opera opens with an introductory recitation in Czech, followed by one of several long instrumental crescendos built from slow trumpet calls and cymbal crashes, reaching a climax before a long decaying low-pitched rumble: an allusion to the trumpets used by Joshua during the seven-day siege of Jericho. The opera relies mostly on vocals with occasional electroacoustic interjections in the form of processed acoustic instruments like viola, tam-tam or full orchestra, transformed through studio treatment and montage. Vocal deliveries are diverse, ranging from singing to

sprechgesang (, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which p ...

, from the plaintive to the exalted, from emphatic to hushed voices. The cast included core members of the Chorea Bohemica ensemble, from which the Musica Bohemica ensemble was derived, founded by Krček in 1975. A new production of ''Nevěstka Raab'' was staged in 2003 at

Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts The Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts ( cs, Janáčkova akademie múzických umění v Brně; abbreviation in Czech: JAMU) is a public university with an artistic focus in Brno, Czech Republic. It was established in 1947 and consi ...

(JAMU) in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, with costume and stage design by Radka Mizerová (born 1976). Another production was presented in 2004, by stage director Magdalena Krčková (born 1977) at

Jičín Jičín (; german: Jitschin or ''Gitschin'') is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republi ...

's Cultural House (Kulturní dům v Jičíně). This performance included dancers as well as actors and singers.

Selected works

*Vocal and chamber compositions: Variations For Orchestra, 1967 *Musique concrete: Sonaty Slavičkove (Nightingale Sonatas), 1971 *Opera: Nevěstka Raab, 1971 ; Bread out of Stones

ate Ate or ATE may refer to: Organizations * Active Training and Education Trust, a not-for-profit organization providing "Superweeks", holidays for children in the United Kingdom * Association of Technical Employees, a trade union, now called the Nat ...

*Symphony N°1, 1975 *Dialogues With Time, a concert for 2 voices and magnetic tape, 1979 *Chamber Suita Semplice, 1979 *Concerto For Violin And Orchestra, 1980 *Concerto For Oboe, harp and Chamber Orchestra, 1981 *Orchestral suite: Ad Radices, 1982 *Symphony Nº2 for Chorus & Chamber Orchestra, 1983. Chamber music version, 1985 *Testamenti – Vocal and Instrumental Suite to Words of Ancient Phrases, 1984 *Three Love Songs, 1986 *Four Renaissance Miniatures commissioned by Trio Spektrum *Musica per Musica Bohemica, for chamber ensemble, 1990 *Symphony No 4 'Desidearata', premiered at the ''Prague Premieres 2005'' *Symphony No 5 'Renaissance', 2010

Film music

*Škaredá dedina (1975) *Plaché příběhy (1982).... 2. Vražedný útok,3. Modrá chryzantéma *Poslední propadne peklu (1982) *Všichni mají talent (1984) *Moře začíná za vsí (1987) *Tichý společník (1988)

References

External links

Jaroslav Krček at Czech Music Information CentreJaroslav Krček at ClassicsOnlineInterview with Jaroslav Krček at muzikus.cz