Vítězslava Kaprálová

Vítězslava Kaprálová

Vítězslava Kaprálová in 1935.
Born 24 January 1915
Brno, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic)
Died 16 June 1940 (aged 25)
Montpellier, France
Nationality Czech
Occupation Composer
Style 20th-century music

Vítězslava Kaprálová (January 24, 1915 – June 16, 1940) was a Czech composer and conductor.

Life

Vítězslava Kaprálová was born in Brno, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Czech Republic), a daughter of composer Václav Kaprál and singer Viktorie Kaprálová. In 1930-1935 she studied composition with Vilém Petrželka and conducting with Zdeněk Chalabala at the Brno Conservatory. She continued her musical education with Vítězslav Novák (1935–37) and Václav Talich (1935-36) in Prague and with Bohuslav Martinů, Charles Munch (1937–39), and, according to some sources, with Nadia Boulanger (1940) in Paris.[1][2][3] In 1937 she conducted the Czech Philharmonic and a year later the BBC Symphony 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.[1] Despite her untimely death, allegedly from miliary tuberculosis, in Montpellier, France at the age of 25, Kaprálová created an impressive body of work. There is no doubt that, had she lived, she would have become one of the most important women composers in Europe.[4] Her music was admired by Rafael Kubelík, who premiered her orchestral song Waving Farewell and also conducted her other orchestral works. Among the many interpreters of her piano music was the esteemed Rudolf Firkušný, for whom Kaprálová composed her best known piano work April Preludes.[1] 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.[5]

The only English biography of the composer was published in 2011 by Lexington Books in the United States. The book also includes a complete, annotated catalog of her works.

Compositions

Kaprálová's creative output includes her highly regarded art songs and music for piano solo, a string quartet, a reed trio, music for cello, music for violin and piano, an orchestral cantata, two piano concertos, two orchestral suites, 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.[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Kapralova Society
  2. ↑ The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, pp.245-46.
  3. ↑ Macek, p. 193-94
  4. ↑ Hartog, p.322
  5. ↑ Sayer, p.343

References

Selected Bibliography

BOOKS:

ARTICLES:

DISSERTATIONS AND THESES:

For complete bibliography visit kapralova.org

Selected works

Scores in print

Selected Discography

External links