Eduard Ingriš () (February 11, 1905 – January 11, 1991) 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, ...

-American composer, photographer, conductor and adventurer. Born in

Zlonice Zlonice is a market town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,300 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Břešťany, Lisovice, Tmáň and Vyšínek are administrative parts of Zlonice. G ...

in Bohemia (then-

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...

, now

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. Th ...

), Ingriš left

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

in 1947 for

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, living in Brazil and Peru. In 1955 and 1959 he organized the Kantuta and Kantuta II raft voyages and sailed across the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, in similar style to

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

Kon-tiki The ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named ''Kon-Tiki'' after the Inca god Viracocha, for ...

. While Ingriš' travels spanned the globe and his talents led him through several careers, his first love was always music. He wrote the first arrangement of the famous "

Beer Barrel Polka "Beer Barrel Polka", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II a ...

", after

Jaromír Vejvoda Jaromír Vejvoda (28 March 1902 – 13 November 1988) was a Czech composer and the author of the " Beer Barrel Polka". Life and work Vejvoda was born and died in Zbraslav. He learned to play the fiddle and flugelhorn in a band led by his fathe ...

came upon the melody and sought Ingriš' help in refining it. This was shortly before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The piece was brought to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

by Czech pilots flying for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, became an overnight hit there, and subsequently was popularized in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. Ingriš received degrees from the

Charles University in Prague ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

and the

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 ...

. He composed about 1,000 works, including forty-eight operettas and musical comedies, full opera and symphonies. At nineteen he composed the operetta "The Capricious Mirror", which played five years 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 ...

— a record-setting of 1,600 performances (surpassing records of New York's Broadway). He directed the Symphony Orchestra of Prague and scored 11 European movies. He also conducted the

National Symphony Orchestra of Peru The National Symphony Orchestra ( es, (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional), abbreviated OSN, is the state symphony orchestra of Peru; it is located in Lima. It is one of the components of the Peruvian Ministerio de Cultura. As of 2007, the orchestra h ...

. As a camera man, Ingriš worked for film studios in

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

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. He filmed a series of thirteen travel and adventure films for the American Production Company, Hollywood. For Movius Productions (Hollywood), he filmed "Jungle Sabotage", a movie starring

Pilar Pallete Pilar Pallete (born 3 September 1928) is a Peruvian actress and the widow of American actor John Wayne. Biography Pallete was born as the daughter of a Peruvian senator in the Paita Port (northern Peru). She married and divorced professional big ...

, wife of actor John Wayne. He assisted author

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

in filming ''

The Old Man and the Sea ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cayo Blanco (Cuba), and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction written by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. On ...

'', based upon

Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fi ...

's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. He also wrote music to another film, produced by Steel Productions in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, called "The Gallant One". Ingriš' own high adventure films "

From High C's to High Seas From may refer to: * From, a preposition * From (SQL), computing language keyword * From: (email message header), field showing the sender of an email * FromSoftware, a Japanese video game company * Full range of motion, the travel in a range of ...

", depicting his two balsa raft expeditions across the Pacific, "Untamed Amazon" and "Sailing the South Seas" of his return voyage on a

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fro ...

from

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Aust ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

, are scored with his own compositions, and were personally presented on lecture tours for several years throughout USA, Canada and Hawaii and later transferred to videos. Ingriš resided at South

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

where he died in 1991 at age 86. His remains were moved to his native village, Zlonice.

References

External links

Article in English by Radio Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingris, Eduard American musical theatre composers Czech musical theatre composers American opera composers Czech opera composers Male opera composers Czechoslovak expatriates in Germany 1905 births 1991 deaths Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact Czech sailors Czech explorers Czechoslovak expatriates in Peru Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Czech male classical composers Czech classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians Charles University alumni