Miloslav Kabeláč
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Miloslav Kabeláč (1 August 1908 – 17 September 1979) was a distinguished Czech
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
and conductor. Kabeláč belongs to the foremost Czech symphonists, whose work is sometimes compared with Antonín Dvořák's and
Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...
's. In the communist period, his work was on the periphery of official attention and was performed sporadically and in a limited choice of compositions.


Life

Kabeláč was born in
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 ...
. In 1928–31 he studied at the Prague Conservatory as a pupil of Karel Boleslav Jirák, simultaneously (in 1930–31) he was a pupil of Alois Hába. In 1932–54 Kabeláč was employed by Prague Radio. From 1957 to 1968 he worked as a teacher at the Prague Conservatory. During his life Kabeláč was active in '' Umělecká beseda'', in the ''Federation of Czechoslovak Composers'' and other organisations. In the 1960s he tried to revive contacts with Western modern music and composers, but after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia he was silenced. His works were performed only abroad from then on.


Works

Miloslav Kabeláč belongs to the most distinguished Czech composers of the 20th century. He soon created a distinctive style for which the auspicious
melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...
and
harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
, the ingenious
polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...
and the consistent architecture of both small and large compositions are typical. His utmost expression was his conscious work with the intervals in which he emerged from non-European musical cultures. Kabeláč used here, for example, artificially numbered scale - modеs whose internal course has a larger range than an
octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...
. He also denounced the term artificial tonal music, especially for the musical theoretical justification of his economical melody. In the interval structure, he also explored the possibilities of so-called interval augmentation and
diminution In Western culture, Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment (music), embellishment in whic ...
, inversion and other practices brought to the music by the so-called 2nd Viennese school. The first mature compositions of this style include the anti-cantata ''Do not retreat!'' (1939), performed for the first time after the end of the Second World War (28 October 1945). At the beginning and in the years of war, Kabeláč focused on chamber opuses (Wind Sextet, Sonata for cello and piano, Two pieces for violin and piano) and Symphonic (1st and 2nd symphonies). Over time, work with large occupation (8th symphony, Mysterium of Time, Reflections), which are his most significant works - along with songs for drums that have already come on European stages at the time (Eight Inventions for percussions). In the 1960s, which gave him wide recognition in the form of the State Prize and Foreign Orders, he received a number of stimuli from foreign avant-garde, which he had organically incorporated into his compositional morphology. He also excelled in pedagogical activities and interest in non-European cultures. He was one of the first promoters of
electro-acoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated around the middle of the ...
in Czechoslovakia. Numerous choreographers have also taken up his work "Eight Inventions for Percussion Instruments. ", Alvin Ailey with the ''American Dance Theater'' are the most prominent among them, his choreography titled Streams, was performed in Prague too in 1979.


Symphonies

* Symphony No. 1 in D for strings and percussion, Op. 11 (1941–42) * Symphony No. 2 in C for large orchestra, Op. 15 (1942–46) * Symphony No. 3 in F for organ, brass and timpani, Op. 33 (1948–57) * Symphony No. 4 in A, "Chamber Symphony", Op. 36 (1954–58) * Symphony No. 5 in B flat minor, "Dramatic", for soprano without text, and orchestra, Op. 41 (1960) * Symphony No. 6 "Concertante", for clarinet and orchestra, Op. 44 (1961–62) * Symphony No. 7 for orchestra and reciter on the composer's text after the Bible, Op. 52 (1967–68) * Symphony No. 8 "Antiphonies", for soprano, mixed choir, percussion and organ, on words from the Bible, Op. 54 (1970)


Further orchestral works

* Overture No. 2 for large orchestra, Op. 17 (1947) * ''Childish Moods''. Little orchestral suite, Op. 22 (1955) * Suite from the music to
Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
' ''
Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...
'' for alto, female choir and orchestra, Op. 28a (1956) * ''Mystery of Time''. Passacaglia for large orchestra, Op. 31 (1953–57) * Three Melodramas to accompany the play Kuo Mo-jo "Master of Nine Songs" for reciter and chamber orchestra, Op. 34b (1957) * ''Hamlet Improvisation'' for large orchestra, Op. 46 (1962–63) * ''Reflections''. Nine miniatures for orchestra, Op. 49 (1963–64) * Metamorphoses II, for piano and orchestra, Op. 58 (1979)


Piano compositions

* Passacaglia TGM, Op. 3 (1937) * 7 compositions for piano, Op. 14 (1944–47) * Easy Preludes, Op. 26 (1955) * 8 preludes for piano, Op. 30 (1955–56) * ''Cizokrajné motivy'' – Motifs from Foreign Countries, Op. 38 (1959) * Small Suite for piano 4 hands, Op. 42 (1960)


Organ compositions

* Fantasies for organ in G minor and D minor, Op. 32 (1957–58) * 4 preludes for organ, Op. 48 (1963)


Other chamber compositions

* Wind Sextet, Op. 8 (1940) * Sonatina for oboe and piano, Op. 24 (1955) * Ballad for violin and piano, Op. 27 (1956) * Suite for saxophone and piano, Op. 39 (1959) * 8 Invenzioni for percussion instruments, Op. 45 (1962–63) * Otto ricercari, for percussion instruments, Op. 51 (1966–67) * Lamenti e risolini 8 bagatelles, for flute and harp, Op. 53 (1969) * Fated Dramas of Man. Sonata for trumpet, piano and percussion instruments with recitation, Op. 56 (1975–76)


Compositions for solo voice with accompaniment

* Moravian Lullabies for soprano and chamber orchestra, on texts from folk poetry, Op. 20 (1951) * Love Songs for soprano, baritone and piano, Op. 25 (1955) * Six Lullabies on text folk poetry for alto solo, small female choir and instrumental ensemble, or for alto and piano, Op. 29 (1955) * Hunters' Songs for baritone and 4 horns, Op. 37 (1958–59) * ''Echoes from Far Away''. 5 songs for alto and piano, without words, Op. 47 (1963)


Choruses

* 6 choruses for male choir on words by Jiří Wolker, Op. 10 (1939–40) * ''Blue Sky''. Children's choruses on the poetry by
František Hrubín František Hrubín (17 September 1910 – 1 March 1971) was a Czechs, Czech poet and writer. Biography Frantisek Hrubín was born into the family of a builder at Prague. His family lived in Lešany (Benešov District), Lešany near Prague durin ...
, after the pictorial cycle of Josef Čapek, Op. 19 (1950) * ''To Nature''. Cycle of children's choruses on the words of folk poetry, Op. 35 (1957–58)


Cantatas

* ''Do Not Retreat!''. Cantata for male voice choir, wind and percussion instruments on folk texts and the words of the chorale "Ye Warriors of God", Op. 7 (1939) * ''Eufemias mysterion'' (Mystery of Silence), for soprano and chamber orchestra to Greek words, Op. 50 (1964–65) * Metamorphoses I of the oldest Czech chorale for mixed choir, solo baritone, male voice choir and solo higher female voice), Op. 57 (1979)


Electro-acoustic music

* ''E fontibus Bohemicis. Visiones sex'' (6 tableaux from Czech annals), Op. 55 (1965–72) atin for ''From Bohemian springs: Six views''


References

*Jiří Vysloužil: ''Hudební slovník pro každého II.'' Vizovice: Lípa, 2001.


External links


Extensive biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabelac, Miloslav 1908 births 1979 deaths Composers from Prague Czech classical composers Czech male classical composers Czech male conductors (music) Prague Conservatory alumni Academic staff of the Prague Conservatory 20th-century Czech conductors (music) Czechoslovak classical composers 20th-century Czech male musicians