Vítězslava Kaprálová (born on January 24, 1915 in Brno, died June 16, 1940 in Montpellier) was a Czech composer and conductor. Among her teachers were some of the best European composers and conductors of the time - Bohuslav Martinů, Václav Talich, and Charles Münch.[1]
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She was a daughter of composer Václav Kaprál. In 1930-1935 Kaprálová studied composition with Vilém Petrželka and conducting with Zdeněk Chalabala at the Brno Conservatory. She continued her musical education with Vítězslav Novák and Václav Talich in Prague (1935–1937) and with Bohuslav Martinů, Charles Münch, and Nadia Boulanger in Paris (1937–1940).[2] In 1937 she conducted Czech Philharmonic and a year later the BBC Orchestra in her composition Military Sinfonietta, to much critical acclaim. Her husband was the Czech writer Jiří Mucha whom she married two months before she died.[3]
Despite her untimely death in 1940, Kaprálová created an impressive body of work. There is no doubt that had she lived she would have become one of the greatest women composers in Europe.[4] Her music was greatly admired by Rafael Kubelík 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 Firkušný for whom Kaprálová composed her best known piano work April Preludes.[5] In 1946, in appreciation of her distinctive contribution, the foremost academic institution in the country - The Czech Academy of Sciences and the Arts - awarded Kaprálová membership in memoriam. 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 - Kaprálová.[6]
Kaprálová'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, one orchestral suite, a sinfonietta, and a concertino for clarinet, violin, and orchestra. 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 Bärenreiter Verlag. In addition, her music has been released on record and compact disc by a variety of labels, including Koch Records and Supraphon.[7]