Vilém Tauský CBE (20 July 1910,

Přerov Přerov (; ) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 41,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Bečva River. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The historic city centre is we ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

– 16 March 2004,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) 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 ...

conductor and composer who, from the advent of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, lived and worked in the UK, one of a significant group of émigré composers and musicians who settled there.

Life

Vilém Tauský was from a musical family: his Viennese mother had sung

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

at the Vienna State Opera under

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

, and her cousin was the operetta composer Leo Fall.'Tauský, Vilém'
by

Noël Goodwin Trevor Noël Goodwin (25 December 1927 – 27 March 2013) was an English music critic, dance critic and author who specialized in classical music and ballet. Described as having a "rare ability to write about music and dance with equal distinc ...

, ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) Tauský studied with

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 ...

and later became a repetiteur at the

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 ...

Opera. His other teachers included Vilém Petrzelka (composition) and Zdeněk Chalabala (conducting). At the age of nineteen he conducted

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, s ...

's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'' in

on short notice in place of Chalabala, who had become ill. Tauský was of Jewish ancestry, and the rise of the

Nazis 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 ...

forced him to move to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He later volunteered for service with the Free Czech Army. He eventually reached the UK in 1940 after the fall of France, arriving with other soldiers on a Yugoslav coal ship to Newport, Monmouthshire.Lamb. Andrew. 'Tauský, Vilém' in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
/ref> He served musical functions in the Czechoslovak Army in exile, as a military band conductor in France.

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 ...

composed his ''Field Mass'' for Tauský and his regimental band, but the fall of France prevented them from giving the premiere. He continued as a band and choir leader in the UK. During the Coventry Blitz on the night of 14 November 1940, Tausky was based ten miles away in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

with the Czech Free Army. His unit was mobilized to search the ruins for survivors. He wrote his ''Coventry Meditation'' for strings to commemorate the civilian casualties and the destruction of the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

. The work was first performed by the Menges Quartet on 17 March 1942 at a Myra Hess

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

Concert in London. The piece was revived in November 2021 by the Jubilee Quartet in Leamington. During the conflict he was awarded a Czech Military Cross, followed by the Czech Order of Merit at the end of the war.

Opera

From 1945 to 1949, Tauský was musical director of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, and following several years conducting regional BBC orchestras in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

he was appointed music director of Welsh National Opera (1951-1956). He made his

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

début with '' The Queen of Spades'' in January, 1951. On 26 December 1953 he became possibly the only conductor to conduct two operas on the same day, with a performance of Humperdinck's ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

'' in the afternoon at Sadler's Wells and

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

's '' Il trovatore'' at Covent Garden in the evening. He was artistic director of the Phoenix Opera touring company from 1966 to 1975. Tauský introduced many Czech operas to the UK, including Smetana's '' The Kiss'' in 1948, Janáček's '' Osud'' in 1972 and Smetana's '' The Brandenburgers in Bohemia'' in 1994. In 1955 he also conducted all six symphonies by his friend Martinu in London, marking the composer's 65th birthday. He also conducted many premieres of UK operas including ''

A Dinner Engagement ''A Dinner Engagement'' is a one-act comic opera by Lennox Berkeley, (his opus number, Op. 45) to a libretto by Paul Dehn. The opera was written for Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group. It premiered at the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, in ...

'' and ''

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

'' ( Lennox Berkeley, both 1954), ''The Violins Of St Jacques'' ( Malcolm Williamson, 1966) and a studio recording of '' Miss Julie'' (

William Alwyn William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was a prolific English composer, Conducting, conductor, and music teacher who composed over 200 cinematic scores, of which some 70 were for full-length features, ...

, 1977). In total Tauský was responsible for twenty-six British opera and operetta premières.

Light music

Tauský was the first foreign conductor to conduct the Band of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

in 100 years and was an instructor/adjudicator at Kneller Hall for some years, as well as an adjudicator at the annual Brass Band competitions. He was principal conductor of the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

from 1956 to 1966. He regularly appeared with this orchestra on the BBC Light Programme's long-running weekly show '' Friday Night is Music Night''. Between 1966 and 1992, he was the director of

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 ...

and head of the conducting course at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

. As a composer, his most popular success was the Harmonica Concertino he wrote for Tommy Reilly in 1973, which was also used for a ballet in New York. Andrew Lamb points out that, following his ten years with the BBC Concert Orchestra during which he raised its profile and range considerably, he was forever after branded as a light music specialist. He "never regained the profile he had previously enjoyed in more serious music, for which he was eminently qualified". In 1979, Tauský published his memoirs under the title ''Vilém Tauský Tells his Story'', which his wife Peggy Mallett co-authored. That same year, he was honoured as a Freeman of the City of London. In 1981, he was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE). He and Mallett published the book ''Leoš Janáček: Leaves from his Life'' in 1982. Tauský and Mallett were married from 1948 until her death in 1982. He was the stepfather of her two sons, both of whom predeceased him. He is survived by his companion of his later years, Brenda Rayson.

Selected works

* 1925 - Cello Sonata No 1 * 1930 - ''Symfonieta'' for orchestra * 1930 - Three Songs for soprano & piano * 1932-8 - Three operettas (for Brno Opera House): ''Marcella'', ''Keep Smiling'', ''Little Girl in Blue'' * 1934 - ''Christopher Columbus'', play with music * 1935 -''The Lost World'', music for documentary film * 1939 - Variations for Piano on an Original Theme * 1940 - Two Military Marches: ''The Czechs are Marching'', ''Call to Arms'' * 1941 - ''Coventry: A Meditation for String Quartet'' * 1942 - Variations on a Welsh Tune, piano * 1943 - ''Interim Balance'', music for documentary film * 1945 - ''Rhapsody on Tunes by Smetana'' for piano & orchestra * 1950 - Concert Overture for Brass Band * 1957 - ''Fantasia da Burlesca'' for violin & orchestra * 1964 - Cello Sonata No 2 * 1965 - ''Essay'' for solo viola * 1965 - String Quartet * 1973 - Concertino for Harmonica, Strings, Harp & Percussion (written for Tommy Reilly)Chandos Records
/ref> * 1975 - ''Ballade'' for cello and piano * 1978 - ''From Our Village'', three movement suite for orchestra * 1980 - Suite for Violin & Piano * 1998 - Serenade for Strings

References

External links