Zbyněk Vostřák

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Zbyněk Vostřák (born June 10, 1920 in Prague , † August 4, 1985 in Strakonice ) was a Czech composer.

Life

From 1939 to 1943 Vostřák studied conducting with Pavel Dědeček at the Prague Conservatory and at the same time (from 1938 to 1945) took private composition lessons with Rudolf Karl . He was also a percussionist with the Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1943 to 1945.

From 1945 to 1948 he taught at the Prague Conservatory and was (1946–47) lecturer in score reading at the Art Academy. He later worked as a conductor at the Ústí nad Labem Opera and at the National Theater in Prague. From 1963 until its dissolution in 1973 he directed the ensemble Musica viva Pragensis , with which he presented contemporary Czech music at international festivals.

In 1965 and 1966 Vostřák took part in the Darmstadt summer courses . At the 1969 World Music Days of the International Society for New Music in Hamburg, he was a juror and conductor of his own works. After his Ensemble Musica viva was dissolved and his works were boycotted as "mysterious" by the official cultural policy in Prague, Vostřák withdrew and devoted himself entirely to composition. For the Witten Days of New Music in 1980 and 1985 he was commissioned by the WDR .

In the early 1960s, Vostrak began using the twelve-tone system and serial techniques in his works . From the end of the 1960s he also devoted himself to electroacoustic music and musique concrète . In the mid-1970s he developed his own compositional technique, dealing with Daniel Brozák's concept of interval keys and structural harmony.

Works

  • Stage works
  • Vocal works
    • Do usínání , song cycle for soprano and piano based on František Halas
    • Dva japonské madrigaly for female choir
    • Tři Shakespearovy sonety for bass and chamber orchestra
    • Kantáta based on a text by Franz Kafka
  • Chamber music
    • Contrasty for string quartet
    • Krystalizace for twelve wind instruments
    • Rekolekce for solo violin
    • Tři eseje for piano
    • Afekty for seven instruments
    • Elementy for string quartet
    • Kosmogonia for string quartet
    • Krásná zahradnice for five brass instruments
    • Oběť svíce for three instrumental groups and three ring modulators
    • Fair play for harpsichord and six instruments
    • Smyčcový kvartet č.4
  • Orchestral works
    • Zrození měsíce
    • Metahudba for large orchestra
    • Tajemství elipsy
    • Parabola for orchestra and tape
    • Katedrála
    • Kapesní vesmír for flute, dulcimer and string orchestra
    • Sinfonia
  • Electroacoustic works
    • Váhy světla
    • Dvě ohniska
    • Azot
    • Jedno ve všem

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vostřák, Zbyněk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 10, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH 4th August 1985
Place of death Strakonice