František Sláma (19 November 1923 – 5 May 2004) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

performer. He was the first

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

who focused on

Early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

Biography

Sláma was born in Herálec. Until the age of 18 he worked in the quarry. His meeting with the famous Czech cello pedagogue Karel P. Sádlo proved to be a turning point in his life. Sádlo supported him, introduced him to the cello (1941) and tutored him for the

Conservatoire 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 in ...

(1942–1948, cello with K. P. Sádlo, chamber music with Václav Talich). Between 1948 and 1952 Sláma completed his studies at the

Academy of Performing Arts in Prague The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (, AMU) is a university in the centre of Prague, Czech Republic, specialising in the study of music, dance, drama, film, television and multi-media. It is the largest art school in the Czech Republic, wit ...

. By this time he had already been a member of the

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra The Czech Philharmonic () is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. Its principal performing venue is the Rudolfinum concert hall. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title of the orche ...

(1948–1981, since 1962 sub-principal cello and cello section leader). Conductor Václav Talich encouraged Sláma's enthusiasm for chamber music and had, along with K. P. Sádlo and later Milan Munclinger, a lasting influence on Sláma's musical development. During the next 45 years Sláma performed with leading chamber ensembles in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. In 1946 he was a founding member of Talich's Czech Chamber Orchestra, between 1953–1976 the viol da gambist of Pro Arte Antiqua (one of the oldest European ensembles focused on

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

and

Renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century ''ars nova'', the mus ...

) and between 1954–1997 a member of the ensemble Ars Rediviva (led by Munclinger), whose performances and recordings on

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. Th ...

played an important role in the revival of the

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

in Czechoslovakia. After Munclinger passed away in 1986, Sláma succeeded him in leading the ensemble. With these ensembles he made a large number of recordings (with Supraphon, Panton, Columbia, DGG, Ariola, and Nippon), which received several awards both in Czechoslovakia and abroad (e.g.

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

). He participated also in first performances of modern compositions (e.g.

Ilja Hurník Ilja Hurník (25 November 1922 – 7 September 2013) was a Czech Republic, Czech composer and essayist. Biography Hurnik was born in Poruba (Ostrava), Poruba, now part of Ostrava. He entered the Prague Conservatory, then went on to the Aca ...

: ''Sonata da camera'', Jan Tausinger: ''Evocations'').

Pedagogue and publicist

Since the 1970s he has been a teacher at the Conservatoire in Prague. He also wrote about music and musicians, cooperated with

Czech Radio Czech Radio (, ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating continuously since 1923. It is the oldest national radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second-oldest in Europe after the BBC. Czech Radio was esta ...

(e.g. introduced

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish Conducting, conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol ...

to the Czech audience).
In 2001 his book "''Z Herálce do Šangrilá a zase nazpátek''" (“''From Heralec to Shangrila and Back Again''”) was published - reminiscences about the Prague music scene between the 1940s and the 1990s as well as about Sláma's musical colleagues, conductors ( Talich, Barbirolli, Cluytens, Karajan, Kleiber, Klemperer, Kletzki, Kubelík, Maazel, Mackerras, Markevitch, Matačić, Mravinsky, Münch, Pedrotti, Rozhdestvensky, Sawallisch, Stokowski, etc.) and other personalities whom he had met (e.g. Adorján,

André André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

, Fournier, Honegger, Mainardi, Menuhin,

Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, Nureyev, Oistrakh, Rampal, Richter, Szeryng, Sudek, Tortelier).

František Sláma archive

František Sláma archive collection donated to his native village Herálec consists of more than 5,000 negatives and photos, over 150 hours of authentic recordings and documents about Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Václav Talich, Milan Muclinger, Ars Rediviva, etc. Live recordings of Ars Rediviva performances in Rudolfinum are also deposited in the Czech Music Museum (see: External links).

References

* * * * * *

External links

František Sláma Archive

Ars Rediviva Discography
*
Czech Radio: František Sláma's recordings
*
Czech Radio: Ars Rediviva recordings

WorldCat Libraries
(November 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Slama, Frantisek 1923 births 2004 deaths People from Žďár nad Sázavou District Czech classical cellists Viol players Czech performers of early music 20th-century Czech classical musicians 20th-century Czech cellists Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni Players of the Czech Philharmonic

Biography

Pedagogue and publicist

František Sláma archive

References

Further reading

External links