Juraj Beneš (2 March 1940 in

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

Slovak State Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

– 10 September 2004 in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) was a Slovak composer, teacher, and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. He graduated from the university called

Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava The Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (, abbr. VŠMU) is a university founded on June 9, 1949. The university consists of three faculties: *''Theatre Faculty'' (Acting, Directing, Dramaturgy, Stage and Costume Design, Puppetry, Theatre Th ...

(VŠMU) and was a pupil of Ján Cikker, who was one of the best known Slovak composers. Since 1983 Beneš taught at the same university. Beneš's work followed current trends and spanned genres. He was best in composing

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s such as ''Cisárove nové šaty'' (The Emperor's New Clothes), ''Skamenený'' (Petrified), and ''Hostina'' (Feast) and often employed the human voice together with unusual instrument combinations as in ''Tri ženské zbory'' (Three Women's Choir).

References

External links

Biography and list of works
1940 births 2004 deaths Musicians from Trnava 20th-century classical composers Slovak classical composers Music educators Slovak pianists Slovak male classical composers 20th-century pianists Male pianists 20th-century male musicians Slovak male musicians {{slovakia-composer-stub