Sláva Vorlová (15 March 1894 – 24 August 1973) was a
Czech composer. She also used the pseudonym Mira Kord.
Biography
Miroslava Johnová was born in
Náchod
Náchod (; ) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is known both as a tourist destination and centre of industry. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and i ...
. She studied voice with
Rosa Papier at the Academy of Music 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 in 1915 moved to
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 ...
to study piano with Václav Štěpán and composition with
Vítězslav Novák. In 1919, she married businessman Rudolf Vorel (whose name she adopted in its Czech form, Vorlová), and spent fifteen years in working in his business.
In 1933, she returned to composing and produced a string quartet, then continued her composition studies the next year with
Jaroslav Řídký and
František Maxián at the
Prague Conservatory of Music. In 1945, Vorlová witnessed her husband's execution by an
SS commando. She died in Prague, aged 79.
Works
Vorlová composed a large number of works, including operas, orchestral pieces and jazz songs. Several of her compositions have been issued as recordings. Selected works include:
*''Bezkydy'' for string quartet (1933)
*''Three Songs'', Op. 2 (1935)
*''Three Songs'', Op. 4 (1939)
*String Quartet No. 2, Op. 5 (1939)
*''Fantasy'' for cello and orchestra, op. 6 (1940)
*''Bílá oblaka'' (White Clouds), Cycle of ten songs for women's choir and orchestra, Op. 8 (1942–43)
*''Maličká země'' (A Little Country), Op. 7 (1941–42)
*Symphony for large orchestra, Op. 18 (1948); dedicated to
Jan Masaryk
*''Fantasie na lidovou píseň z XV. století'' (Fantasy on a 15th-Century Czech Folk Song) for viola solo, Op. 33 (1953)
*''Slovácký koncert'' (Slovak Concerto) for viola and orchestra, Op. 35 (1954)
*Concerto for bass clarinet and string orchestra, Op. 50 (1961)
*''Sonáta lyrica a tre'' for violin, viola and guitar, Op. 62 (1964)
References
External links
List of works and recordings
1894 births
1973 deaths
Czechoslovak classical composers
Czech classical composers
Czech music educators
Czech opera composers
Czech women classical composers
Women opera composers
Czech women music educators
Czech women educators
20th-century Czech women composers
Prague Conservatory alumni
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