Musicologica Olomucensia

The author of this treatise is presently preparing a literary monograph about the Czech composer Jan Klusák. This treatise is a direct continuation of two of his publications about Klusák: a study called "The Inventions of Jan Klusák", which was published in AUPO, Musicologica II (1995, pp. 85-109), and an interview published in the film quarterly Illuminace ("I like music which seems to play the role of another character in a movie…" a talk with composer Jan Klusák about (music for) theatre and film; 1996, No. 2, pp. 107-119). To start off with, the author observes the beginnings of Klusák´s interest in film and theatre and his years spent as a student at the Academy of Music in Prague, then more or less chronologically goes through Klusák´s production for film and television. Attention is also given to "a by-product" of Klusák´s interest in film and theatre, that is his remarkable activity as an actor in films connected with the so-called new wave of Czech film in the sixties, and in theatre with the intimate stage of the Jára Cimrman Theater in Prague. Klusák´s production of music for the stage is discussed and special attention is devoted to Klusák´s bigger musical theater works: the opera "Twelfth Night" and the singspiel, "Evil Stag". The treatise ends with the statement that Klusák, in his autochthonous production, is considered to be rather an uncompromising composer in regards to style and, consequently, rather esoteric. When cooperating on complex or multimedia projects he is not only very inventive, but also adaptable and abundantly possessed of a copious palette of musical means. In the annotated appendix, there is a list of literature on the treatise´s theme and an attempt to briefly grasp Klusák´s life and work in "glossary" form.