Ars Rediviva was a Czech classical instrumental music group, whose historically-informed performances played a key role in the revival of Baroque music in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Ars Rediviva chamber ensemble

The group was founded in 1951 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 ...

by flautist and musicologist Milan Munclinger and his wife, pianist and harpsichordist Viktorie Švihlíková (she was later succeeded by

Josef Hála Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

). The original lineup also consisted of two prominent members of the Czech Philharmonic, cellist František Sláma and oboist Stanislav Duchoň (later succeeded by violinists

Václav Snítil Václav Snítil (1 March 1928, in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic – 19 July 2015, in Prague) was a Czech violinist and music educator. He first studied with his teacher being Czech violinist Jaroslav Kocián for 8 years from 1942 to 1950, and co ...

and Antonín Novák).
From 1951 to 1956

Václav Talich Václav Talich (; 28 May 1883, Kroměříž – 16 March 1961, Beroun) was a Czechs, Czech violin, violinist and later a musical pedagogue. He is remembered today as one of the greatest conducting, conductors of the 20th century, the object of co ...

collaborated with Ars Rediviva.

Orchestra, soloists

The band's repertoire consisted largely of chamber music, the works of J. S. Bach ranking high on the list.
Depending on score requirements, the ensemble's size expanded regularly up to the chamber orchestra having mainly

Czech Philharmonic The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the titl ...

instrumentalists as members (a complete

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

group with its section leaders, prominent

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...

-players, for example solo flautists Géza Novák and František Čech, solo oboist Jiří Mihule, solo bassoonists Karel Bidlo and František Herman, solo horn-players Miroslav Štefek and Zdeněk Tylšar, solo double-bass player František Pošta, etc.).
Ars Rediviva collaborated with the

Czech Philharmonic Choir 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, ...

, Czech singers (

Karel Berman Karel Berman (14 April 1919 in Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia – 11 August 1995 in Prague, Czech Republic) was a Jewish Czech opera singer, composer and opera director. Life After extensive musical education, Karel Berman started his c ...

, Ladislav Mráz,

Jana Jonášová Jana Jonášová (born 28 April 1943) is a Czech opera singer. One of the most important Czech coloratura sopranos of her generation, she has had an active international career at the world's major opera houses and concert stages for roughly f ...

, Virginia Walterová,

Ludmila Vernerová Ludmila Vernerová (born 6 December 1962, Prague) is a Czech operatic soprano and the niece of the oboist . After graduating from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, she was a regular performer at the Prague Chamber Opera in the mid 1980s. ...

, etc.), and foreign artists, specializing in performances of Baroque and Classical music (e.g. András Adorján, Theo Altmeyer,

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

Nedda Casei Nedda Casei (September 9, 1932 – January 20, 2020) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Career Early in her career, Casei was selected by Leopold Stokowski to sing the role of Jocasta, in Igor Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex. She made her operatic ...

Otto Peter Otto Peter (born 1931) is a Switzerland, Swiss classical baritone. He studied with the composer Paul Hindemith, the Switzerland, Swiss violinist of Czech Republic, Czech origin Petr Rybář, and singers Margherita Perras and Heinz Rehfuss. He beca ...

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century." Biography Ea ...

Season performances (1954–1994)

In 1954, the ensemble started giving season performances in Wallenstein Pallace, and later in Rudolfinum) in

(6 concerts, later 12 concerts per year). In four decades, several hundreds of compositions were introduced here, including scores of premiered archive pieces.
Live recordings of Ars Rediviva performances in Rudolfinum are deposited in th
Czech Museum of Music

Repertoire, recordings

Ars Rediviva was the first ensemble in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

to record a large number of works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

(LPs of the complete Brandenburg concertos,

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of F ...

, The Musical Offering, trio sonatas, flute sonatas, cantatas, concerto reconstructions, etc.), Bach's sons (

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

: sonatas, sinfonie symphonies, concerts;

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and compose ...

: sinfonies symphonies, sonatas;

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for several years, Bach mov ...

: chamber music, symphonies),

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread ...

(concertos, sonatas, ''Stabat Mater''),

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera ...

(e.g. ''Pièces en Concerts''), François Couperin (''Les Apothéoses'', ''Les Goûts réunis''),

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hi ...

(concertos, orchestral suites, ''Nouveaux Quatuors'', ''Tafelmusik'', ''Essercizii musici'', ''Der harmonische Gottesdienst'', cantatas), Jan Dismas Zelenka (trio sonatas ZWV 181, orchestral works, ''Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae''), František Benda (sonatas, flute concertos), Jiří Antonín Benda (''Ariadne auf Naxos'', ''Bendas Klage'', sonatas, concertos), etc. (for more see External links: Ars Rediviva Discography).
The ensemble recorded for

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. ...

, Panton,

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

Ariola Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...

, CBS, Orfeo,

Nippon Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family o ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, as well as for broadcasting and television companies and film industry (awards:

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...

, Supraphon Golden Lion, etc.). Jan Tausinger, Ivan Jirko, Ilja Hurník, and other Czech composers dedicated their neoclassical compositions to Ars Rediviva (e.g., Hurník's ''Sonata da Camera'', ''Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra''.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Documents, discography

* František Slámabr>Archive

Ars Rediviva
. Documents - Photographs - Sound Archive
Milan Munclinger in Documents and Reminiscences
*
Viktorie Švihlíková
. Documents - Photographs
Czech Philharmonic Instrumentalists and Ars Rediviva

Ars Rediviva Discography: Recordings with Supraphon and Panton 1954-1984
*
Czech Radio: Ars Rediviva recordings