Jan Klusák (born 18 April 1934 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 ...

as Jan Porges) is a contemporary

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, ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, author of

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, television and

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

Life

Klusák was born to a Czech

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, who owned a farm in

Prosek Prosek or Prošek may refer to: Places * Prosek, North Macedonia, an archaeological site in North Macedonia * Prosek, Niška Banja, a village in Serbia * Prosek (Prague), a neighbourhood in Prague ** Prosek (Prague Metro), a Prague Metro station ...

, Prague. After he graduated from the gymnasium, he pursued his studies at the Prague Music Academy as a pupil of

Jaroslav Řídký Jaroslav Řídký (25 August 1897 – 14 August 1956) was a Czech composer, conductor, harpist, and music teacher. Life Řídký was born at Reichenberg, now Liberec. From 1919 to 1923 he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Bohus ...

and Pavel Bořkovec (in 1953-57Vysloužil, p. 256). Later he concentrated solely on composing. He has never worked directly with music groups or schools, although his style was temporarily influenced by the music of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

, and later by the

Second Viennese School The Second Viennese School (german: Zweite Wiener Schule, Neue Wiener Schule) was the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and close associates in early 20th-century Vienna. ...

, especially by

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

and

Serialism In music, serialism is a method of Musical composition, composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other elements of music, musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, thou ...

. Since 1959 he cooperated closely with Czech conductor

Libor Pešek Libor Pešek (22 June 1933 – 23 October 2022) was a Czech conducting, conductor. He was among the most famous conductors of his time, working regularly across Europe as chief conductor of orchestras in Prague, but also for ten years with the ...

and with ''Chamber Philharmony''. However, after the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

in August 1968, Klusák was condemned as a "politically undesirable" person (he composed music for prohibited films). During the

normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Most commonly it refers to: * Normalization (sociology) or social normalization, the process through which ideas and behaviors that may fall outside of ...

Klusák was engaged in the

Jára Cimrman Jára Cimrman or Jára da Cimrman (officially Jaroslav Cimrman) (), also known as "the Master", is a fictional Czech polymath, created by Ladislav Smoljak, Jiří Šebánek and Zdeněk Svěrák. The fictional personality is presented as a univer ...

Theatre, but he was forced to leave in 1975. In the 1980s Klusák focused more on vocal compositions. He began to compose song cycles, cantatas, and wrote an opera. Following 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 ...

in 1989, he began to participate in public life again, and worked as a member and director of various cultural institutions in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He was awarded a "Classic 1995" Award for his compositions and for his ''String Quartet No. 5'' in particular. Since the 1960s he occasionally acted in films, such as ''

A Report on the Party and the Guests ''A Report on the Party and Guests'' ( cs, O slavnosti a hostech, also known in English as ''The Party and the Guests'') is a 1966 Czechoslovakian political satire film directed by Jan Němec. It was banned in Czechoslovakia from 1966 to 1968 f ...

'' (1966) or '' Valerie and Her Week of Wonder (1970).

Selected works

Compositions

*''Partita for viola solo'' (1954) *''Concertino for flute, violin, viola and cello'' (1955) *''Contrappunto fiorito for flute, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and piano'' (1955–1956) *''Eight Inventions for Various Instrumental Arrangement'' (1961–73) - his key work *''Four Little Voice Exercises to the Words of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

)'' (1960) *''Images for 12 Wind Instruments'' (1962) *''Variations on the Theme of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

'' (1962) *''String Quartet No. 2.'' (1962) *''Rejdovák for bass clarinet, viola and double bass'' (1965) *''Sonata for String and Wind Instruments'' (1965) *''Le forgeron harmonieux: variations on George Frideric Handel's

The Harmonious Blacksmith ''The Harmonious Blacksmith'' is the popular name of the final movement, ''Air and variations'', of George Frideric Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord. This instrumental air was one of the first works for harpsichord p ...

per grande orchestra'' (1966) *''Rondeau for Piano'' (1967) *''Radix nativitatis I.S. for voice, flute, clarinet, viola and piano'' (1972) *''Duet for Flute and Piano'' (1977) *''Zenith Moon'' - 4 Poems of Anna Achmatová for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, viola and klavier (1981) *''Monolog „Ubi vult“'' (Monologue "Ubi vult") for viola solo (1987) * ''String Quartet No. 4'' (1994) * ''String Quartet No. 5'' (1970) * ''String Quartet No. 6'' (1970)Musicbase.cz Quartet 6 Page
/ref> *''Whatever you want'' (1986) - opera

Film music

* '' The Cry'' (1963) * ''

Courage for Every Day ''Courage for Every Day'' ( cs, Každý den odvahu) is a 1964 Czechoslovak drama film directed by Evald Schorm. Plot Director Evald Schorm reflects on the changing political tides of his generation in this clear-eyed study of idealism and disill ...

'' (1963) * '' Perličky na dně'' (1964) * '' Návrat ztraceného syna'' (1965) * '' Martyrs of Love'' (1966) * ''

Late August at the Hotel Ozone ''Late August at the Hotel Ozone'' ( cs, Konec srpna v Hotelu Ozon) is a 1967 Czechoslovak science fiction film by director Jan Schmidt based on a screenplay by Pavel Juráček. Production Dana Medřická was originally considered for a role ...

'' (1966) * '' Farářův konec'' (1968) * ''

Hospital at the End of the City ''Hospital at the End of the City'' ( cs, Nemocnice na kraji města) is a Czechoslovak television series first released in 1978 by Czechoslovak Television. It featured an ensemble cast and received much viewer praise in Central Europe. The seri ...

'' (1977) TV series * '' Dimensions of Dialogue'' (1982) short film

Footnotes

References

External links

Czech infoEnglish info, works, bibliography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klusak, Jan 1934 births Living people 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Czech male musicians Czech classical composers Czech male classical composers Czech opera composers Czech film score composers Czech Jews Male opera composers Male film score composers Musicians from Prague Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)