Vítězslava Kaprálová

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Vítezslava Kaprálová

Vítezslava Kaprálová was born on January 24, 1915 in Brno, died June 16, 1940 in Montpellier. She was a Czech composer and conductor. Among her teachers were some of the best European composers and conductors of the time - Bohuslav Martinu, Vaclav Talich, and Charles Münch.^[1]

Despite her untimely death in 1940, Kaprálová created an impressive body of work that has earned her the distinction of the most important woman composer in the history of Czech music.^[2] There is no doubt that had she lived she would have become one of the greatest women composers in Europe.^[3] Her music was greatly admired by Rafael Kubelik who premiered her orchestral song Waving Farewell and also performed several of her other works. Among the many interpreters of her piano music was also the esteemed Rudolf Firkusny for whom Kapralova composed her best known piano work April Preludes.^[4] In 1946, in appreciation of her distinctive contribution, the foremost academic institution in the country - the Czech Academy of Arts and Sciences - awarded Kapralova membership in memoriam. It should be noted that by 1948 this honour was bestowed on only 10 women, out of 648 members of the Academy. Only one of the ten women was a musician - Kapralova. ^[5]

Kapralova's creative output includes her highly regarded art songs and music for piano solo, a string quartet, music for cello, music for violin and piano, a cantata, two piano concertos, two orchestral suites, a sinfonietta, and a concertino for clarinet and violin. Much of her music was published during her lifetime and continues to be published today (some compositions in subsequent editions) by various publishing houses, including the distinguished Baerenreiter Verlag. In addition, her music has been released on record and compact disc by a variety of labels, including Koch Records and Supraphon.

1 Notes
2 References
3 List of Works
4 Scores in print
5 Discography
6 External links

[edit] Notes

^ The Norton/Grove Dictionary, pp.245-46.
^ kapralova.org
^ Hartog, p.322
^ kapralova.org
^ Sayer, p.343

[edit] References

Hartog, Howard, eds. European Music in the Twentieth Century. Penguin Books, 1961.
Sadie, Stanley and Rhian Samuel, eds. The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. New York and London: W.W.Norton and Company, 1994.
Sayer, Derek. The Coasts of Bohemia. Princeton University Press, 1998.
kapralova.org