Radim Drejsl
Encyclopedia
Radim Drejsl was a Czech composer, pianist and conductor. He is considered an important composer of politically engaged songs promoting visions of Czechoslovak communist regime in the 1950s. Drejsl applied the ideas of socialist realism
in his music.
. Following his graduation at the gymnasium
in Rychnov nad Kněžnou
in 1942 he continued his studies at the Prague Conservatory
. From 1942 to 1946 he studied composition with Karel Janeček and Pavel Bořkovec
; and conducting as a pupil of Pavel Dědeček. Later (from 1946 to 1950) he deepened his musical skills at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
. In 1949 he became director of the Vít Nejedlý Army Artistic Ensemble (Armádní umělecký soubor Víta Nejedlého) in Prague
. He composed choruses, small cantatas and military songs for the performances of the ensemble. His composing style was partially conforming to the atmosphere and attitudes of the newly built communist state. Drejsl was one of the foremost composers of the politically engaged optimistic songs called budovatelské písně, promoting the communist ideology in the 1950s. However, he proved remarkable talent also as a composer of chamber and symphonic works.
In 1952 he visited Soviet Union
and China. Among his fellow-travellers were filmmakers Vojtěch Jasný
and Karel Kachyňa
. In April, 1953, shortly after his return to Prague
from the Soviet Union, Drejsl committed suicide. He was allegedly so disappointed by the terrible life conditions in the Soviet communist world that his enthusiastic devotion to the communist ideas was destroyed. He couldn't bear the disappointment, cut his veins and jumped out of a window of his flat. He was 29. Film director Vojtěch Jasný
questioned this version of his death, suggesting that Drejsl was murdered by KGB
. According to Jasný, Drejsl planned to speak publicly about the experience from the Soviet Union, and his suicide was arranged by KGB to prevent him to do so. However, the speculations of murder were unproven.
His alleged suicide has been identified by communists as "an expression of personal weakness, cowardice, and especially the reluctance to participate in building socialism."
Drejsl, together with Vít Nejedlý and Ludvík Podéšť
, is considered one of the leading exponents of integrating socialist realism
into Czechoslovak music.
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
in his music.
Biography
Drejsl was born in DobruškaDobruška
Dobruška is a small town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It is situated in the Orlické hory valley, about 140 km east of Prague. It has about 7,100 inhabitants. The Golden Brook flows through the town.-Description:...
. Following his graduation at the gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Rychnov nad Kněžnou
Rychnov nad Knežnou
Rychnov nad Kněžnou is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 12,000 inhabitants.This is a small town, with a sprinkling of other small towns in the vicinity. The nearest big city is Hradec Králové which is about 32 km to the west...
in 1942 he continued his studies at the Prague Conservatory
Prague Conservatory
Prague Conservatory, sometimes also Prague Conservatoire, in Czech Pražská konzervatoř, is a Czech secondary school in Prague dedicated to teaching the arts of music and theater acting.- Instruction :...
. From 1942 to 1946 he studied composition with Karel Janeček and Pavel Bořkovec
Pavel Borkovec
Pavel Bořkovec was a Czech composer and music teacher.Bořkovec studied at the Prague Conservatory under Josef Suk. From 1946 to 1967 he taught at the Academy of Musical Arts in Prague. His students there included Pavel Blatný, Jiří Pauer, Vladimír Sommer, Petr Eben, Jan Klusák and Jan Truhlář...
; and conducting as a pupil of Pavel Dědeček. Later (from 1946 to 1950) he deepened his musical skills at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague is a university level school of music, dance, drama, film, TV and multi-media studies.- Faculties :*Film and TV School - FAMU*Music Faculty - HAMU*Theatre Faculty - DAMU-Notable alumni:...
. In 1949 he became director of the Vít Nejedlý Army Artistic Ensemble (Armádní umělecký soubor Víta Nejedlého) in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. He composed choruses, small cantatas and military songs for the performances of the ensemble. His composing style was partially conforming to the atmosphere and attitudes of the newly built communist state. Drejsl was one of the foremost composers of the politically engaged optimistic songs called budovatelské písně, promoting the communist ideology in the 1950s. However, he proved remarkable talent also as a composer of chamber and symphonic works.
In 1952 he visited Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and China. Among his fellow-travellers were filmmakers Vojtěch Jasný
Vojtech Jasný
Vojtěch Jasný is a Czech director who came to prominence in the sixties. He won a Cannes Special Jury Prize for Až přijde kocour/The Cassandra Cat ....
and Karel Kachyňa
Karel Kachyna
Karel Kachyňa was a Czech film director. His career spanned over five decades.Kachyňa was part of the Czech wave of liberal filmmakers in the 1960s which included Miloš Forman and Jiří Menzel....
. In April, 1953, shortly after his return to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
from the Soviet Union, Drejsl committed suicide. He was allegedly so disappointed by the terrible life conditions in the Soviet communist world that his enthusiastic devotion to the communist ideas was destroyed. He couldn't bear the disappointment, cut his veins and jumped out of a window of his flat. He was 29. Film director Vojtěch Jasný
Vojtech Jasný
Vojtěch Jasný is a Czech director who came to prominence in the sixties. He won a Cannes Special Jury Prize for Až přijde kocour/The Cassandra Cat ....
questioned this version of his death, suggesting that Drejsl was murdered by KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. According to Jasný, Drejsl planned to speak publicly about the experience from the Soviet Union, and his suicide was arranged by KGB to prevent him to do so. However, the speculations of murder were unproven.
His alleged suicide has been identified by communists as "an expression of personal weakness, cowardice, and especially the reluctance to participate in building socialism."
Drejsl, together with Vít Nejedlý and Ludvík Podéšť
Ludvík Podéšť
Ludvík Podéšť, pseudonym Ludvík Binovský , was a Czech composer, conductor, music journalist and editor.-Life and career:...
, is considered one of the leading exponents of integrating socialist realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
into Czechoslovak music.
Piano
- Studentská předehra (Student Overture, 1940)
- Pochod Šenkýřovy hudební školy (1941)
- Polka zamilovaného dráteníka (1942/43)
- Bajky (four movements, 1943)
- Dvě polky (Two Polkas, 1943/44)
- Menuetto (1943/44)
- Tance (Dances) (1943/44)
- Šest tanečků (Six Little Dances) (1943/44)
- 1st Suite (1945)
- 2nd Suite (1946)
- Sonata (1946)
Chamber
- Maličkost (Bagatelle for string quartet and piano, 1941)
- Malá suita pro klarinet a klavír (Little Suite for clarinet and piano, 1943/44)
- Sonatina for flute and piano (1947)
- Sonatina for bassoon (1948)
- Dechový kvintet (Wind Quintet, 1948)
- Dožínková suita (The Harvest-Home Suite) for oboe (also English horn) and piano (1949/50, published 1959)
Orchestral
- Pozdě k ránu (symphonic novel for piano, harmonium and 19 instruments, publ. by K. Hlaváček, 1942)
- Symfonie pro smyčce (Symphony for Strings, 1948)
- Koncert pro klavír a orchestr (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, 1948/49)
- Tance z Velké Kubry (Dances from Velká Kubra, 1949)
- JánošíkovskýJuraj JánošíkJuraj Jánošík was a famous Slovak Carpathian Highwayman....
tanec (1950)
Songs
- Česká modlitba (Czech Prayer, 1944)
- Dík za vítězný mír (1945)
- Krajiny dětství (cycle, words by František HalasFrantišek HalasFrantišek Halas was one of the most significant Czech lyric poets of the 20th century, an essayist, and a translator.- Life :...
, 1946) - Čtyři pijácké písně (Chinese poetry, 1947)
Military songs
- Armádě zdar (words by Miroslav Zachata)
- Sláva tankům (words by Miroslav Kroh) for soloist, choir and orchestra
- Voják úderník (words by Miroslav Kroh, 1950) for soloist, choir and orchestra
- Písnička na vojně (words by Miroslav Kroh, 1950)
- Kandidát (1951)
- Za GottwaldaKlement GottwaldKlement Gottwald was a Czechoslovakian Communist politician, longtime leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia , prime minister and president of Czechoslovakia.-Early life:...
vpřed (words by Miroslav Zachata, 1951) - Voják a sršeň
- Ve jménu Jana Žižky, Military song (In the Name of Jan ŽižkaJan ŽižkaJan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha , Czech general and Hussite leader, follower of Jan Hus, was born at small village Trocnov in Bohemia, into a gentried family. He was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka"...
, 1953); words by Miroslav Kroh - Tankistům, March (published 1954)
Choruses
- Jarní sbory (Spring Choruses, 1948)
- Vlaj, naše vlajko (words by J. Hájek, 1948)
- Hymna STM (1949)
- Píseň o Fučíkovi (Song of Fučík, words by Miroslav Zachata, 1951) for soloist, choir and orchestra
- Píseň o Stalinovi (Song of StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
) for soloist, chorus and piano (published 1952); words by Miroslav Kroh and Miroslav Zachata - Píseň čs. – čínské družby for soloist, chorus and orchestra (published 1952); words by Miroslav Zachata
- Píseň kulometných čet (words by Pavel KohoutPavel KohoutPavel Kohout is a Czech and Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a Prague Spring exponent and dissident in 1970s until he was expelled to Austria...
); for soloist, chorus and piano - Země krásná (Mír musí být a bude zachován) (1952)
Cantatas
- Sláva mé zemi (words by Miroslav Zachata)
- Kantáta o vrchním veliteli (words by Stanislav Neumann, 1952)
Incidental music
- Sněm duchů na Turově (play by K. Michl, 1943)
- Russian People (for piano and 11 instruments)
- Babička (Grandmother, 1948/49)