Petr Skoumal (7 March 1938 – 28 September 2014) 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 ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

and

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 ...

. He is best known as a composer of music for films and theatre performances.

Biography

Petr Skoumal was born on 7 March 1938 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 ...

to Aloys Skoumal and Hana Skoumalová, both notable traslators from English. He learned to play the piano from childhood and also received lessons in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

when his father worked there as a cultural attaché after World War II. Because he had a small finger span, he was not accepted to study piano at university. He studied conducting 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 ...

and then choir management at the

Janáček Academy of Performing Arts The Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (; abbreviation in Czech: JAMU) is a public university with an artistic focus in Brno, Czech Republic. It was established in 1947 and consists of two faculties: the Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Th ...

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. After his studies, he worked on stage music, especially at The Drama Club in Prague, where he was a director and musical dramaturg. In the 1960s, he began collaborating with the writer

Jan Vodňanský Jan Vodňanský (19 June 1941 – 10 March 2021) was a Czech writer, songwriter, singer and humorist. He was best known for his collaboration with musician Petr Skoumal. Biography Vodňanský was born on 19 June 1941 in Prague. He studied at Co ...

there. Their parody performances were a great success. After Vodňanský signed

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...

and became an enemy of the

communist regime in Czechoslovakia Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, distrib ...

, the duo had to stop working and they were forbidden from appearing on TV and radio. He died in the Military Hospital in Prague on 28 September 2014, aged 76. His funeral was held at the Strašnice Crematorium in Prague.

Musical work

Petr Skoumal is best known as a composer of film music. Among the films he has composed music for are ''

Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping ''Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping'' () is a 1983 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Ladislav Smoljak. It is a biopic of the fictional Czech national hero Jára Cimrman, who is portrayed by one of his inventors, Zdeněk Svěrák. The story is f ...

'', ''

Dissolved and Effused ''Dissolved and Effused'' () is a 1985 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Ladislav Smoljak. Synopsis At the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, police investigator Trachta and his trainee, Hlaváček, investigate the murder of the factory owner ...

'' and the animated shorts ''

Maxipes Fík Maxipes Fík (literally " Fig the Maxidog") is a Czechoslovak children's TV animated series. The main character is a large dog. It was one of the most popular series made for the children's television programme Večerníček. The first series ...

'', ''

Pat & Mat ''Pat & Mat'' (Czech and Slovak: ''Pat a Mat'') is a Czechoslovak slapstick stop-motion silent animated series created by Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek. The characters first appeared in the theatrically released short ''Kuťáci'' (' ...

'' and '' Bob a Bobek – králíci z klobouku''. In the 1990s, he started a series of albums for children, based on the stories of Emanuel Frynta, Pavel Šrut and Jan Vodňanský (i.e. '' If the Pig Had Wings'', ''Pastries'', ''How to hunt a Gorilla''). ''If the Pig Had Wings'' was made into a stage performance for Theatre in Dlouhá Street in Prague, which had 300 reruns between 1996 and 2013. Skoumal collaborated with a many notable musicians, such as Luboš Pospíšil and

Michal Prokop Michal Prokop (born 1 April 1981 in Prague) is a Czech professional BMX and Mountain Bike Four-cross rider. Started his sporting career at the age of five, Prokop has claimed two World Cup circuit gold medals, and three World Championship jersey ...

. For several years he was a member of

Vladimír Mišík Vladimír Mišík (born 8 March 1947) is a Czech musician and politician. He is the founder or co-founder of the bands The Matadors, Matadors, Blue Effect, and Etc (band), Etc.... Career Music Mišík founded his first band, Uragán, as a teena ...

Etc * Etc. or et cetera, a Latin expression meaning "and the other things" or "and the rest". ETC or etc may also refer to: Companies and organizations * ETC (Chilean TV channel), a Chilean cable television channel * ETC (Philippine TV channel), a ...

band. He also made several

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s with songs for adults: ''…se nezblázni'' (1989), ''Poločas rozpadu'' (1990), ''Hotelový pokoje'' (1994), ''Březen'' (1999), and ''Nebo cibule'' (2006). In total, Skoumal composed music for more than two hundred theatre performances, television productions and films. He has 779 compositions registered with the Copyright Protection Association. In 2013, he received an award from this association for the most successful Czech composer abroad.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoumal, Petr 1938 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Czech composers Czech film score composers Czech jazz musicians Czech jazz pianists Czech songwriters 20th-century pianists Etc (band) members Prague Conservatory alumni