Jindřich Feld (19 February 1925 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

– 8 July 2007 in Prague, Czech Republic) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. Feld was born into a musical family, his father a well-known professor of violin at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

which followed the tradition of

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czechs, Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a Solo (music), soloist and an Musical ensemble, ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. ...

, the master of

Jan Kubelík Jan Kubelík (5 July 18805 December 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer. Biography He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after di ...

. His mother was a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist. While he studied violin and viola with his father, he began studying composition early, studying at the

and then graduating from the Academy of Music (HAMU) in 1952. In this year, he also earned his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

, with degrees in

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In 1968 and 1969, Feld accepted an invitation to be a Guest Professor of Composition at

Adelaide University Adelaide University is a planned public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2024, it will combine the University of Adelaide, the third-oldest university in Australia, and the University of ...

in Australia. He also continued to teach at the Prague Conservatory, where he was Professor of Composition from 1972 until 1986. He was guest lecturer at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

in 1981 and 1984. His teaching has also taken him to positions at other American universities as well as ones in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and 1991 in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Among his notable students are

Ivan Romanoff Ivan Romanoff (8 March 1914 – 14 March 1997) was a Canadian conductor, violinist, arranger, and composer. For three decades he led the "Ivan Romanoff Orchestra and Chorus" on a variety of radio and television programs for the Canadian Broad ...

and

Martin Wesley-Smith Martin Wesley-Smith (10 June 1945 – 26 September 2019) was an Australian composer with an eclectic output ranging from children's songs to environmental events. He worked in a range of musical styles, including choral music, operas, computer m ...

Musical career

The American musicologist, Dr Lana Kay Johns (her annotated

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

), has counted more than two hundred titles (a

cataloging In library and information science, cataloging (American English, US) or cataloguing (British English, UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging ...

system referred to here as J). It includes compositions from an opera for children (''The Postman's Tale'', 1956) to partitions with full scores for orchestra, as well as the cantata Cosmae Chronica Boemorum, 1988) in the tradition of Dvořák on a medieval text. His Symphony n°3, "The End of the Century", was premiered in Prague in 1998. Numerous works of chamber music as well as choral works have suggestive titles, such as ''Three Inventions or Mockery about Names'', for female choir, and ''Laus Cantus'' for soprano voice and string quartet (1985, to the memory of J.S. Bach), ''Gloria Cantus'' or ''Three Inventions'' for mixed chorus, or ''Nonsense Rhymes'' for women's chorus and small instrumental ensemble, in direct line with the ''Říkadla'' (''Nursery rhymes'') of Janáček. One of his internationally best-known compositions is the Concerto for flute and orchestra, written in 1954.

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. Rampal popularised the flute in the post–World War II years, recovering flute compositions from the Baroque era, and spurring contemporary composers, ...

commissioned this concerto and performed it in multiple concerts, and recorded it. The Sonata for flute (1957) is a standard piece in the repertoire of all virtuosos. Rampal ordered the very elaborate and the virtuoso ''Fantasy Concertante'' for flute, string quartet and percussion instruments, which was first performed in Paris in 1980 (required work for his First International Flute Competition). Feld forged aesthetic guidelines during more than half a century of activity and admitted having initially felt close to Martinů, but even more to the French school of

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

, including Honegger. He felt akin with the more French side of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

and

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

as well as the ethnic side of Bartók.

Selected works

Orchestral

* Three

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

(1966–67, 1983, 1994–8)Musica.cz. * Sinfonietta (2001) "Pour les temps d'harmonie" *

Concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

s ** For flute (1954), cello (1958), bassoon (1959), oboe (1970), piano (1973), trombone (1975), accordion (1975), violin (1977), saxophone (1980), harp (1982), and viola (2003–4, J.208) * Concerto for chamber orchestra (1957)

Chamber music

*Six

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

s (1949, 1952, 1962, 1965 J. 61, 1979 J. 126, 1993 J.181) **

String trio A string trio is a group of three string instruments or a piece written for such a group. From at least the 19th century on, the term "string trio" with otherwise unspecified instrumentation normally refers to the combination violin, viola and cello ...

(by 1966) *Rhapsody for organ (1963) *

String quintet A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet ...

(quartet + viola) (1972) *

Wind quintet A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon). Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the i ...

s (1949, 1968) *Brass quintet (c. 1972) *Quintet for Saxophone (or Clarinet) and Strings J. 194 (1999) *

Sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s **Viola and piano (1955) **Flute and piano (1957) **Bassoon and piano sonatina (1969) **Clarinet and piano sonatina (1970) **Piano (1971-2) **Cello and piano (1972) **Guitar (1974) **Oboe and piano (1982) **Violin and piano (1985) **Alto saxophone and piano (1989–90) **Piccolo and Piano (2005)

Other chamber works

* Cello and piano : two compositions (Elegy and Burlesque) J. 22 (1954–1955) *Rhapsody for violin and piano (1956) *Five inventions for two flutes (1975) *Toccata and Passacaglia for harp (1976) *Two Dances (Danse lyrique – Danse barbare) for flute and guitar (1975) *

Trio Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1987) *Suite rapsodica for alto saxophone (1992)

Notes

References

External links

Czech Music Page on FeldViola concerto recording

(works up to 2002)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feld, Jindrich 1925 births 2007 deaths Czechoslovak classical composers Academic staff of the Prague Conservatory Charles University alumni Czech classical composers Czech male classical composers Composers from Prague Prague Conservatory alumni Academic staff of the University of Adelaide 20th-century Czech male musicians