Thesis (M.M.)--Ohio University, June, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. Abstract only has been uploaded to OhioLINK. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-78)

Commenting on Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), music critic Václav Juda Novotný declared in 1881 that “a Czech composer has to write, first and foremost, for a Czech audience.” Scholars have given considerable attention to Dvořák’s reception abroad and have shown that his path to success on foreign stages, particularly in Vienna, was not always direct. The composer’s reception in the Czech lands during the late nineteenth century was no less complicated – shaped by various cultural and political factors, as the Czechs sought to assert themselves in the fight for the nationalist cause, while remaining under Habsburg rule. Drawing on the wealth of newspaper and journal articles that were printed in the Czech press at this time, the dissertation places Dvořák’s music into its Czech context. The topic is explored by way of three case studies that deal with Dvořák’s contributions to choral, operatic, and symphonic genres. Each of the works examined came at a significant moment in Dvořák’s career in the Czech lands. The performance in 1873 of the choral cantata Hymnus: Heirs of the White Mountain marked Dvořák’s professional debut; with the 1878 production of the comic opera The Cunning Peasant, Dvořák celebrated his first major triumph on the coveted Czech operatic stage; and the Prague premiere in 1881 of his first widely recognized symphony, the D major, Op. 60, proved to be crucial in defining Dvořák’s role in the concert hall. These case studies reveal that Dvořák’s treatment in the Czech press varied depending on the unique traditions of these genres and their differing status within Czech musical culture. The project highlights the complex relationships and interactions among critics, audiences, and composers. In the politically-charged climate of fin-de-siècle Bohemia, Czech critics took ownership of Dvořák and enlisted his music to advance their own agendas. Dvořák, in turn, was keenly aware of and often catered to public tastes and critical expectations. Intertwining various realms of contextual inquiry, including nationalist rhetoric, contemporary critical discourses, and the musical repertories that were cultivated in the Czech lands, the dissertation draws attention to the multiple agents at play in Dvořák’s nineteenth-century Czech reception.

Zdeněk Lukáš (1928-2007) was one of the most prolific Czech composers of the 20th century having composed over 300 pieces. His works include a wide array of genres including symphonies, operas, chamber music, and a large amount of choral and vocal music. He was influenced by Czech folklore and music and was self-taught until he was nearly 40 years old. Lukáš began his career as a teacher but later began working for the Czechoslovak Radio Studio in Plzeň where he founded the mixed choir, Česká Píseň (Czech Song), which became quite famous and still enjoys great fame. Requiem per coro misto, op. 252 is considered by many to be Lukáš’s most famous choral work. It was written in 1992 for a cappella SSATB chorus. The piece is divided into seven movements; “Requiem aeternam,” “Dies irae,” “Lacrymosa,” “Offertorium,” “Hostias,” “Sanctus,” and “Agnus Dei.” This document presents an analysis and conductor’s guide of Requiem. The analysis includes an examination of Latin pronunciation employing Germanic Latin when possible and an IPA pronunciation guide and translation of the text. Also included in the analysis is discussion on form, tonality, and development of melody, harmony, and rhythm all of which reveal that Lukáš wrote this piece in a very traditional style. The conductor’s guide points out many of the issues that a choir may face in preparing Requiem. Some of the issues include intonation, range, and dynamics. One specific issue is that although the piece is tonal, there is considerable use of modes and scales that many singers would consider exotic. One such scale is the Hungarian Gypsy which is essentially a harmonic minor scale, but includes a raised fourth degree. Many of the intonation issues that could arise stem from the frequent parallel motion. Lukáš believed that a cappella singing is one of the purest forms of music and that singers should be allowed to sing without regard to any instrumental influence whether it be from the composer or some other source. Requiem exhibits this belief through its challenges and its beauty. The work or its individual movements can be challenging yet accessible to singers of all levels.

This diploma thesis deals with history of the Czech Society for Chamber Music and its place among societies that performed chamber music in 1918-1953. In the historical part the thesis concentrates on context, organizational structure, repertoire and artists who performed in concerts of the Czech Society for Chamber Music. The chapter about the competition for new chamber composition which was held in 1895-1945 constitutes another important section of the thesis. The comparison of the Czech Society for Chamber Music with other chamber societies is placed in the final chapter. It focuses on selected institutions in Prague and elsewhere in Czech lands and on the influence of the Czech Society for Chamber Music, mutual cooperation and differences.

Vítězslav Novák wrote his second opus of choral ballads, Two Ballads on Words of Moravian Folk Verses Op. 23 Vražedný milý and Neščasná vojna, in 1900. He set Moravian folk song texts from contemporary song collections to music, the first version was for mixed choir and piano four hands, followed by an orchestration for symphony orchestra. The ballads were a great contribution to choir repertoire and have made their mark in choral concert life, as evidenced by the press. Despite such a great interest, the orchestral score has never been printed and is only available in manuscript. Even critical literature did not deal with this topic more specifically, so there is still some ambiguity, for example, concerning premieres or the state of the sheet music.

Gyorgy Druschetzky was a noted Czech composer of Harmoniemusik, who wrote more than 150 partitas and serenades, along with at least thirty-two other selections for larger wind groups. This is in addition to twenty-seven symphonies, eleven concertos (most for wind instruments), two fantasias, forty-seven string quartets, two operas, a ballet that is lost, and other miscellaneous chamber music for various combinations of wind/string instruments. Three of his works for winds have existed only in manuscript form since their composition: Concerto in E-flat pour 2 clarinett en B, 2 cors en E-flat, 2 fagott; Overture to Mozart's Die Zauberflöte; and Partitta a la camera a corno di bassetto primo, secondo, terzo, due corno di caccia, due fagotti. These works remain remarkably interesting to modern ears and deserve to be heard in the twenty-first century. Along with a brief examination of Druschetzky's life and how it figures into the history of Harmoniemusik, this work presents each piece edited into a modern performance edition.

Polystylism and Collage in Czech Music in the Second Half of the 20th Century by Robert Škarda Key words: czech music, collage, polystylism, postmodernism, quotation, style contraposition, team composition The topic of my thesis Polystylism and Collage in Czech Music in the Second Half of the 20th Century is the area of Czech composers' works based mainly on style contraposition, stylization of historical or jazz music and usage of quotations. My work is based on assumption of historicity of musical terminology. I consider the notions polystylism and collage as period musical terms and I attempt to reconstruct their meaning. Time definition of the thesis is delimited by the years 1960 and 2000. Lower time limit is selected regarding to nature of the topic - the 60s are the period when works and reflections belonging to the context of the notions polystylism and collage first appeared. The first part of my thesis focuses on the general mapping of the topic polystylism and collage. I summarized relevant musicology literature and I dealed with historical and teoretical relations of polystylism and collage to related terms (first of all postmodernism, montage and style), I was concerned with the context of European and American music and with question of polystylism and collage in Czech popular music....

When Czech composer Bedřich Smetana's opera The Bartered Bride received its American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in February 1909, New York music critics published positive reviews which displayed a great fascination with the many "Bohemian" aspects of the production. However, certain comments or language used by some critics indicate that American opinions of the Czech people were less than positive. After Czechs began immigrating to America en masse in 1848, already-established American citizens developed skewed cultural perceptions of the Czech people, established negative stereotypes, and propagated their opinions in various forms of press throughout the nation. Despite a general dislike of the Czechs, reviewers revered The Bartered Bride and praised its many authentic "Bohemian" qualities. This research explores the idea of a paradoxical cultural phenomenon in which the prejudice against Czech people did not fully cross over into the musical sphere. Instead, appreciation for Czech music and musicians may have trumped any such negative opinions and authentic Czech productions such as The Bartered Bride may have been considered a novelty in the eyes of early twentieth-century New Yorkers.

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