Jaroslav Kvapil was a Czech composer, teacher, conductor and pianist.

Born in Fryšták

Fryšták

Fryšták is a town in Zlín Region of Czech Republic. It lies between cities Zlín and Holešov, on the Fryštácký stream, under the Hostýnsko-vsetínská hornatina, on the interface between Moravian Wallachia and Haná.-History:...

, he studied with Josef Nešvera and worked as a chorister in Olomouc from 1902 to 1906. He then studied at the Brno School of Organists under Leoš Janáček

Leoš Janácek

Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...

, earning a diploma in 1909. He studied with Max Reger

Max Reger

Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...

 at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1911 through 1913.

Kvapil was an excellent accompanist, noted for his skill in sight reading. As the choirmaster and conductor of the Brno Beseda (1919–47) he gave the Czech premières of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

’s St Matthew Passion (1923), Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...

’s Judith (1933) and Karol Szymanowski

Karol Szymanowski

Karol Maciej Szymanowski was a Polish composer and pianist.-Life:Szymanowski was born into a wealthy land-owning Polish gentry family in Tymoszówka, then in the Russian Empire, now in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. He studied music privately with his father before going to Gustav Neuhaus'...

’s Stabat mater

Stabat Mater (Szymanowski)

Karol Szymanowski's Stabat Mater was composed in 1925-1926 for soprano, alto and baritone soloists, SATB choir, and orchestra. The work is divided into six movements and uses Jozef Janowski's Polish translation of the Marian hymn, Stabat Mater....

(1937). He received the Award of Merit in 1955. He taught at the School of Organists and at the Brno Conservatory

Brno Conservatory

The Brno Conservatory, also Brno Conservatoire , was established in Brno on 25 September 1919 by Moravian composer Leoš Janáček.- History :...

, and he was appointed professor of composition at the academy in 1947. His students included Hana Janků

Hana Janků

Hana Janků was a Czech operatic soprano of international renown. Born in Brno, she studied with Jaroslav Kvapil in her home city before making her professional opera début at the Brno Opera in Vítězslav Novák's Lucerna. She became a principal singer at the Opéra national du Rhin and the Deutsche...

, Miloslav Ištvan

Miloslav Ištvan

Miloslav Ištvan was a Czech composer whose work was inspired by the works of Béla Bartók and by the orientation of the modal style of folk songs. He studied Romanian and African folklore...

, Ctirad Kohoutek

Ctirad Kohoutek

Ctirad Kohoutek was a contemporary Czech composer, music theorist, and pedagogue.- Life :...

 and Jiří Matys. He died in Brno

Brno

Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

at the age of 65.

Selected works

Orchestra

• Dnes a zítra (Today and Tomorrow), Symphonic Overture
• Notturno (1911)
• Symphony No.2
• Symphony No.4
• Svítání (Dawn), Symphonic Poem
• Thema con variazioni e fuga
• Z těžkých dob (From Hard Times), Symphonic Variations

Concertante

• Concerto for oboe and orchestra
• Concerto for piano and orchestra
• Concerto No.1 for violin and orchestra (1927–1928)
• Concerto No.2 for violin and orchestra (1952)
• Suita (Suite) for viola and chamber orchestra (1955)

Chamber music

• Clarinet Quintet (1914)
• Dvě skladby (2 Pieces) for violin and piano (1946)
• Quartet for flute, violin, viola and cello (1948)
• String Quartet No.4 (1935)
• Duo for violin and viola (1949)
• String Quartet No.5 (1949)
• Sonata in D major for violin and piano (1950)
• Sonata in D major for violin and piano
• Sonata for violin and organ
• Variace na vlastní thema (Variations on an Original Theme) for trumpet and piano (1929)

Organ

• Fantasie in E minor

Piano

• Legenda (1912)
• Menuetto (1912)
• Intermezzo (1912)
• Humoreska (1912)
• Lento melancolico – Allegro risoluto
• Sonata (1910)
• Sonatina (1950)
• Údolím stesku a žalu, 9 Pieces (1936)
• Vánoce (Christmas) (1924)
• Variace na vlastní thema (Variations on an Original Theme) (1914)
• V říši snů (In the Realm of Dreams) (1933)

Vocal

• Pět písní na slova Antonína Sovy (5 Songs on the Words of Antonín Sova) (1918)

Choral

• Dukelská dumka, Song for unison chorus