Ladislav Urban

“ The gem of the evening was clearly the national anthem "Kde Domov Muj ("O Home Land Mine") , sang by a sextet of young girls who made a profound impression this past season at the Festival of Liberty when they give without accompaniment a Bohemian Chorale written in the Czech tongue in the ninth century, adding also a cycle of five folk songs both harmonized and conducted by Anna Fuka Pangrac. In this second effort Mme. Pangrac has achieved something of unusual appeal; the voices pour out like one great round voice, delicately shaded and richly colored ”

“ Particular attention was paid during this period to everything that had originality and the essence of Czech culture. Music and literature had only one source—the folk-song. It was the "common" people who in the period of darkness under the feudal system had preserved their mother tongue in the unwritten folk-poetry with its unwritten tunes. It is not necessary for one to be educated in music or in literature, if his mind is emotional enough and his mouth and throat able to produce a musical sound ”

“ Coming to the East Side this night as a willing martyr—a martyr who would listen to ambitious East Side music taught by semi-volunteers to semi-willing students at intermittent periods, we had expected some cheap, snappy music intermingled with some badly mangled good music. ”

“ It is true that the artistic works of great masters help much to foster racial pride and are great moral supports to national efforts, but it is more by means of their regenerative artistic qualities than by sentimental nationalistic self-praise. The works of the great Czech masters are worth studying by all lovers of music.
The Czechoslovak nation has received political recognition by the Allied nations and the United States, which has thus made their dream of political independence come true. ”

“ With this work the composer reached his goal. No greater tribute to his success is needed than Liszt's exclamation upon hearing of Smetana's death—"He was a genius!"
Anton Dvořák (1841–1904) , the best known Czech composer, was a son of a village butcher. From his early childhood his only passion was music. In spite of many struggles and much suffering, he did not cease to study and work. Music was his consolation, his life. In just praise it may be said that the high position of this composer in the musical world is due chiefly to his unparalleled perseverance under his own criticism. ”

“ This aim the Jesuits accomplished by manufacturing new tunes and texts and by taking over for church use many of the secular Czech folk-songs. We find in the Catholic songbooks in Bohemia, songs in which a folk-tune with the folk-poetry were fitted for use in the church by changing a lover's name to that of a saint.
The so-called counter-reformation under the Jesuits was too unpopular among the Czechs to lead to the production of original spontaneous songs among the people; but at the same time there began the development of Bohemian classical music as a part of the European classical period. ”

“ Slovaks are that people who live in the northwestern part of Hungary, called Slovakia, which with Bohemia forms the present republic and nation of the Czechoslovaks. [1]
Bohemian music is not so well known in America as its artistic value and quality deserve. ”

“ He cannot wipe out of his work every trace of his thoughts amidst which it grew. Above his will and out of his sight he is necessitated by the air he breathes and the idea on which he and his contemporaries live and toil, to share the manner of his times, without knowing what that manner is. ”

“ He brings to his work such a warmth, such a definite training, such a system, that success could not fail him, especially in this House where he had such a wealth of material on which to expend his powers. ”

“ It is the Czech traditional musicianship which makes the members of these Associations sacrifice their time in exhausting rehearsals in order to secure a perfect result. Wherever they have sung, in France, Belgium, Germany, etc., the Czech Teachers have gone out victorious from the contest.
The pedagogical foundation for the education of Bohemian musicians was laid, when there was established, in the year 1811, the Conservatory of Music of Prague, which is placed now in a beautiful building, called "Rudolphinum," in the Old Town, the most ancient borough of the city of Prague. ”

“ Francis Pangrac, Bohemian Singer, and Head of The Jan Hus House Music Work
This music work is under Mr. and Mrs. Francis Pangrac both graduates of the Conservatory of Prague, and has taken definite classical form. The artistry demanded and attained from even young children provokes wonder and admiration. Mr. Pangrac, who has already given the music of the Czecho-Slovak race to the music lovers of America through his Victor records, is perhaps as successful a teacher as a singer. ”

“ One of his operas, The Tempest, takes its subject from Shakespeare's play.
Modern Czech music is represented by the works of Vítězslav Novák (1870) , a pupil of Dvořák. He is the greatest unrivaled talent of present Czech musical art. It is necessary to hear only his ocean fantasy, The Storm, op. 42, for soli, chorus, and orchestra, to get an idea of his elementary power of creation.
The principal theme from The Storm:
The magnificent art of interpretation of the Prague and Moravian Teachers inspired Novák to compose male choruses containing very often great difficulties for intonation ”

“ As Gypsies are characterized by their carefree and adventurous life, the term, thus misapplied, assumed an entirely different meaning: a class of people such as would-be artists, or people unhampered by convention. ”

“ Simultaneously with Novák came another Czech modernist from Dvořák's class in composition, Josef Suk (1874) , the second violinist in the famous Bohemian String Quartet. He is a composer of absolute subjectivity with inclination to mysticism; a real poet, in both the most complicate symphonic forms and in short piano sketches. He wrote the first composition made under the suggestion of the great war in Bohemia, his Meditation, op. ”

“ This institution has sent into the world a large number of excellent artists. Every leading symphony or theatrical orchestra in the world has among its members one or more Czech musicians, pupils of the Prague Conservatory. The violin class especially became famous under the leadership of Otokar Ševčík, very well known among our American students of violin. ”

“ The new dance soon found admirers, and in the year 1835 it made its way into Prague, the Bohemian metropolis, where it received the name Polka, probably on account of the half step occurring in the dance, for the word—půlka—designates 'the half.' Four years later, in 1839, this tune, which had now become a great favorite in Prague, was carried to Vienna. The Polka now became rapidly known throughout Austria. ”

“ Op. 27. Piano, violin, and violoncello. String quartet. D major. Op. 35.
Symphonic Works
In Tatra Mountains. Op. 26.
Slovak Suite. Op. 32.
Eternal Desire. Op. 33.
Orchestral and Vocal
The Storm. Op. 42.
The Wedding Shirt.
Operas
The Little Demon. Karlštejn. Note: The most valuable collections of Czechoslovak folk-songs especially those of Vítězslav Novák (Slovak Songs) and of V. J. Novotmý (Libické písneě) , may be found at the Webster Branch of the New Fork Public Library.
↑ Prague, the metropolis of Bohemia, preserved its reputation of eminence in musical art. ”

“ Part III. The Death of Hippodamia. Op. 33.
Operas
The Tempest (1894) . Hedy (1895) . The Bride of Messina (1883) . Šárka (1897) . Helga and Dargun (1898) .
JOSEF SUK
Piano Works
Fantaisie Polonaise. ”