Ludvík Kundera (musicologist)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ludvík Kundera (17 August 1891 – 12 May 1971) was a Czechoslovak musicologist, pianist and academic administrator.


Biography

Kundera was born in
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
,
Královo Pole Královo Pole (German: ''Königsfeld'', in English meaning "King's Field") is one of the 4 municipal parts and cadastral territories of Brno-Královo Pole, a city district of Brno, Czech Republic, north from the city centre. History The first ...
as the youngest of seven siblings in a family which supported his passion for music from early childhood. He studied at German gymnasium and piano playing under Klotylda Schäfrová. Later he was taught by the czech composer
Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...
. His first public performance took place in 1912, with compositions by
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
,
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
,
Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( ; ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded ...
and
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he served in the
Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...
. He enlisted on 14 July 1914 and was assigned to the 8th Infantry Regiment operating in
Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...
,
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
. He was captured by Russians in 1915 and on 1 August 1916 he joined the Czechoslovak Legion in Russia. During his stay in Russia, he became familiar with the cultural life of the country and occasionally he organized and performed on public concertos. In June 1920, he travelled from
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
to Terst and later back to the Czechoslovakia. In 1925, he attended the masterclasses of
Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot ( , ; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his po ...
at the
École Normale de Musique École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. He also continued his studies in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
and earned a doctorate in musicology from Brno University in 1925. He taught at Brno Conservatory from 1922 to 1941 (until his removal by the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
authorities occupying
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 ...
) and was the first rector at the Brno Academy
JAMU Jamu ( Javanese: ) is a traditional medicine from Indonesia. It is predominantly a herbal medicine made from natural materials, such as roots, bark, flowers, seeds, leaves and fruits. Materials acquired from animals, such as honey, royal jell ...
from 1948 to 1961. From 1945 to 1946 he was the director of the Brno Conservatory. From 1946 to 1948 he was head of the music department of the Education Faculty of the
Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...
in Prague. As a pianist he concertized widely both at home and abroad, performing both as a soloist and in chamber music groups and often promoting the music of Czech composers. As a musicologist he is perhaps best known for his analyses of the works of Leoš Janáček.''Oxford Music Online'', John Tyrrell He was the father of the writer
Milan Kundera Milan Kundera ( ; ; 1 April 1929 – 11 July 2023) was a Czech and French novelist. Kundera went into exile in France in 1975, acquiring citizenship in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, but he was granted Czech citizenship ...
and uncle of the writer
Ludvík Kundera Ludvík Kundera (22 March 1920 – 17 August 2010) was a Czech writer, translator, poet, playwright, editor and literary historian. He was a notable exponent of Czech avant-garde literature and a prolific translator of German authors. In 2007, h ...
. He died in Brno on 12 May 1971. His funeral was accompanied by the String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters" by Leoš Janáček.


Publications

*'' Richarda Wagnera
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
”'', HR, vi (1912–13), 233–41 *''O muzïke chekhoslovatskego naroda'' usic of the Czechoslovak nation(
Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...
, 1919) *''Hudba v Sovětském Rusku'' usic in Soviet Russia Hudební rozhledy, i (1924–25), 24–6 *''Janáčkův klavírní sloh'' anáček's piano style Hudební rozhledy, i (1924–25), 42–5 *''O estetice umělěcké a zvláště hudební reprodukce'' he aesthetics of artistic, and in particular, musical reproduction(diss., U. of Brno, 1925) *''Janáčkova “ Věc Makropulos”'', HRo, iii (1926–27), 19–21, 37–41 *''Janáčeks Stil'', Der Auftakt, vii (1927), 279–83 *''Janáčkova Glagolská mše'', Tempo rague vii (1927–28), 186–93 *''Hudba a ruská legie'' usic and the Russian Legion Tempo rague viii (1928–29), 16–21 *'' Václav Kaprál''; ''
Vilém Petrželka file:Vilém Petrželka (1889-1967).jpg, Petrželka in 1931 Vilém Petrželka (10 September 1889, Brno, Moravia – 10 January 1967, Brno) was a prominent Czech composer and Conducting, conductor. Petrželka was a pupil of Leoš Janáček, Vítězs ...
''; ''
Jaroslav Kvapil Jaroslav Kvapil (25 September 1868 – 10 January 1950) was a Czech poet, theatre director, translator, playwright and librettist. Early life, education and family Jaroslav Josef Kvapil was born on 25 September 1868 in Chudenice, into the fami ...
''; '' Jan Kunc'', Tempo rague ix (1929–30), 318–24; x (1930–31), 47–55; xi (1932), 127–40, 176–9; xii (1932–33), 241–52 *''Soudobá hudební Morava'' usic in present-day Moravia Československá vlastivěda, viii (Prague, 1935), 558–65 *''Hudba a revoluce'' usic and revolution Dějiny světové hudby, ed. J. Branberger (Prague, 1939), 553–637 *''Kvapil'' (Prague, 1944) *''Jak organizovati hudební výchovu v obnoveném státě'' ow to organize music education in the renewed state(Brno, 1945) *''Janáček a Klub přátel umění'' anáček and the Club of the Friends of Art(Olomouc, 1948) *''Janáčkova varhanická škola'' anáček's organ school(Olomouc, 1948) *''Chopinovy vlivy ve Smetanově klavírní tvorbě'' hopin's influence on Smetana's piano works Musikologie, ii (1949), 11–37 *''Ludvík van Beethoven'' (Prague, 1952) *''Janáčkova tvorba klavírní'' anáček's piano works Musikologie, iii (1955), 306–29 *''K otázce interpretace Janáčkových děl'' he interpretation of Janáček's works Leoš Janáček a soudobá hudba: Brno 1958, 189–96; also in ''Sborník Janáčkovy akademie múzických umění'', ii (1960), 5–18; Ger. trans. in Operní dílo Leoše Janáčka: Brno 1965, 141–4 *''O sovětském a našem hudebním školství'' oviet and Czech music education HRo, xi (1958), 179–82 *''Beethovenovy klavírní sonáty'', i (Prague, 1964) *''Václav Kaprál: kapitola z historie české meziválečné hudby'' chapter in the history of Czech music between the wars(Brno, 1968)


References


Further reading

*Vysloužil, Jiří. ''Ludvík Kundera : profil umělce, pedagoga a vědce''. Brno : SPN, 1962. 153 p. Spisy Janáčkovy akademie múzických umění 1


External links


prof. PhDr. Ludvík Kundera
at Encyklopedie dějin města Brna {{DEFAULTSORT:Kundera, Ludvik 1891 births 1971 deaths Writers from Brno People from the Margraviate of Moravia Czechoslovak musicologists Czechoslovak pianists Academic staff of Charles University Academic staff of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts Academic staff of Brno Conservatory Milan Kundera