Karel Weis (1861-1944) studied at the Prague conservatory and organist school, and received further training from Antonín Dvořák and Zdeněk Fibich. He played piano accompaniments for an excellent violinist František Ondříček, and having successfully applied for the Austrian state scholarship for artists multiple times, he strived for building his career exclusively on composing. Even though he made contributions to several areas (song, symphony, film music), his domain was musical theatre. He was the first Czech composer to make his debut in the National Theatre; his opera Viola addressed a Shakespearean theme, inspired by the Twelfth Night. It was premiered in the National Theatre in 1892. Following disagreements with the management of the National Theatre, Weis decided to offer his next opera to the New German Theatre in Prague, and his opera The Polish Jew premiered here on March 3, 1901. It soon became an opera hit at a number of foreign stages, and was performed even in the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The unexpected success of the artwork, but especially its staging elsewhere than the National Theatre resulted in a number of Czech musicians calling Karel Weis a traitor to the nation. As a result, the written history of the Czech musical culture of 1800s and 1900s omits the name of Karel Weis. This treatise aims to analyse the status quo around the year 1901 and point out unjust and superficial evaluations of Weis's personality and work from the vantage point of shallow national attitudes and patriotism.

Adaptations of prose works to the form of opera librettos are quite frequent, but the resulting operas are observed from a musical point of view much more often than from a literary and comparative one. This paper seeks to expand this area of research and consider some aspects that need to be included in further observations. The research is based on a comparison of two operatic adaptations of Babička by Božena Němcová. One of them is Babička by the librettist Adolf Wenig and the composer Antonín Vojtěch Horák, which was premiered in 1900 at the Prague National Theatre; the other is Na Starém bělidle by the librettist Karel Šípek and the composer Karel Kovařovic, presented at the same venue in 1901. Both are based on the same template, yet each of them processes this template in a different way and (according to contemporary criticism) otherwise successfully. Wenig tries to include as much content as possible from the original short story, while Šípek only selects certain images, which he then elaborates more consistently. This also influenced the fate of each opera—Kovařovic’s Na starém bělidle was played for another fifty years throughout Czechia and its quality was reflected many times in the period press, while Horák’s Babička received only several not very laudatory reviews and soon fell into oblivion. In addition to opinions of the time about operas and the methods of narrative transformation, the paper elaborates on the usage of folk songs in operas. The main research source in this area is the Prostonárodní písně a říkadla by Karel Jaromír Erben, which contains a large number of lyrics and melodies later used in the operas.

The text first of all gives a broader comparison of the development of two traditions that significantly influenced Czech society in the 19th century. Political, national and religious influences, together with the development of historical research, were reflected in artistic creation, including music. Both traditions were connected by many features: a place in Czech history, a religious basis, the element of Czech-German coexistence, partly also their incorporation into the interpretation of the Blaník legend, etc. The selection of compositions serves not only to understand the parallel coexistence of both traditions, but it is also beneficial in terms of finding compositions whose authors attempted to merge the two ideological currents. In addition to the compositions themselves, other valuable information on this confrontation is provided by contemporary materials (reviews, memoirs). The text reveals much about the composers’ motivations, the risks of choosing the themes, the reception by audiences, opportunities for performances, competitors’ opinions, etc. One of the main conclusions is the statement that Hus-Hussite compositions quantitatively predominated in the second half of the 19th century and that they were a symbol of the progressive current of Czech political representation. Compositions of a synthesising nature were united by an appeal to reconcile the confessionally, linguistically and politically divided nation, and, in this sense, they are closer to Saint Wenceslas compositions. As a whole, all compositions can then also be understood as a suitable addition to the reconstruction of the subject represented by the question “Wenceslas or Hus/Žižka”.

From the perspective of the number of Dittersdorf's compositions preserved, the Schwarzenberg music collection is a relatively small, but very valuable one, particularly in the field of orchestral music. Some of the copies preserved here could be considered unique with regard to the present state of investigation (although their authorship is therefore questionable). Despite this fact, this source of information on Ditters' music presently remains rather unknown, and for instance in the RISM catalogue it is recorded only partially. The aim of this study is therefore to create a more detailed overview of the identified Dittersiana, as well as to reflect on the role of these compositions in the music activities of the Schwarzenberg princes and their employees.

The new Czech choral book must be considered as a publication that fundamentally influenced the form of the spiritual song in Silesia. It is a modern work that reflects the current needs of individual Christian congregations. The time range among the included songs is almost 650 years, drawing not only from the songs of churches registered in the Czech Republic, but also folk tunes, traditionals, etc. Its concept influences the form of the spiritual song especially by the thought that every melody is supposed to be processed in such a way so that it describes the essence of the text's composition and message. With its creation, it not only imprinted a new form of spiritual song, but also influenced which songs will be performed in Christian congregations in the times to come.

The contribution of Czech composers to the development of the Polish national music begins in the era of the activity of Jan Stefani, the composer of musical set to Cracovians and Highlanders by Wojciech Bogusławski, considered the first Polish national opera. Further on are the achievements of Wilem Würffel as the creator of polonaises and fantasies based on Polish national melodies. Although after the anti-Russian uprising (1831), many Czech musicians still worked in Poland as music teachers, members of orchestras or choir directors, their participation in shaping the formation of Polish national music was rather niche. It was influenced by political reality, which was not favorable to the development of Polish-Czech contacts, especially in the part of the country under Russian rule (here Czechs were seen as Russophiles). The impulse that increased interest in Czech music in Poland in the last decades of the 19th century was the awareness of its high position in Europe. The successes of Smetana and Dvořák's works discussed in foreign music press, prompted several Polish music activists to attempts to introduce them to national stages. However, it was only the beginning of the twientieth century when Czech national music was properly assessed by Polish composers. And here political factors played also a role - the "Czech Renaissance" in Polish musical thought was largely inspired by the events of the Prague Neo-Slav rally of 1908.

This paper explores the distinctive voice of Judith Lang Zaimont in The Figure String Quartet (2007). The composition demonstrates diverse ways of musical handlings that utilize, experiment with and imitate characteristics that are reminiscent of vocal writings. Not only are mood and emotion heavily stressed to create dramatic effects in the composition, but excitement in the music also is created through sound colors and creative musical ideas. Operatic recitative style and minimalist's reiteration pitch patterns are also experimented. Throughout the composition irregular rhythms, pauses and rests are have significant meanings and purposes. It is as if Zaimont is writing the music with a text in mind and the work is written for singers. The expressive musical language not only shows Zaimont's compositional creativity but also presents a challenging work that provides opportunity for imagination among both performers and listeners.

James MacMillan is one of the few internationally renowned composers who embraced the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council with its key concept of participatio actuosa and wrote music involving the congregation. With regard to these works, the following questions are discussed and answered: In what way did he compose for untrained singers so that they are able to sing his compositions? Which stylistic compromises did he accept and how are they artistically justifiable? How does his liturgical music involving the congregation relate to liturgical theological concepts?

The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989 marks not only the end of communism but also, according to many music journalists and musicians themselves, the end of folk music. This term can be found in the magazines and literature of that time and it reflects the crisis of the folk genre whose main representatives are the singer-songwriters. When the theory of Czech musicologist Josef Kotek about the evolution of genres in popular music is applied, it can be assumed that the folk singer-songwriting reached its final at the turn of the 1990s. Such a decline was marked by a gradual loss of popularity of the genre and by the deterioration of quality of the music. This situation is changing at the brink of 21st century when new singer-songwriter appeared, and it is possible then to speak about the revival of the genre. It is typical for this era that the definition of folk music and singer-songwriting is enlarged. Many female singer-songwriters arose and along with it, folk music gradually penetrated the mainstream pop music.

The text focuses on the musical phenomenon of the so-called Czech New Wave of the 1980s. It examines its main features as presented in the essay by Josef Vlček "Nová vlna - příběh dušičkový" published in the book Excentrici v přízemí (1989). Some of the musical groups which belonged to the Czech New Wave, or more precisely to the punk rock of the first half of the 1980s are discussed in detail. On the example of the selected groups (specifically Krásné nové stroje, Nahoru po schodišti dolů band, Slepé střevo - the predecessor of the later Mňága a Žďorp, and Už jsme doma - initially punk band F.P.B.), which in spite of their success with their audience in the 1980s and subsequent commercial success in the 1990s cannot be definitely associated with the mainstream music scene, the article seeks to capture their changing attitudes regarding the transformations following the revolutionary year 1989.
Through the lens of the individual band members, the social, political, and cultural changes are taken into account, which subsequently penetrated the artists' poetics and especially their lyrics. The text outlines the different approaches by which these bands asserted themselves in the newly emergent musical scene. These performers are also set in the broader meaning of the era at the turn of the 1990s and are compared with other bands of the indie music scene.

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf was one of the most productive composers of 1700s, which is also reflected by several hundred records in the central evidence of music resources in the Czech Republic, the Union Catalogue of Music (SHK) of the National Library of the Czech Republic. Coincidentally, the catalogue was established by the musicologist Oldřich Pulkert (1929-2016), who devoted many years to Ditters' works. His last, unfortunately unfinished, project was a thematic catalogue of Dittersdorf's works that were found in Pulkert's estate. The paper informs about the representation of Dittersiana in SHK and the form of Pulkert's catalogue, and proposes options for their further research utilization.

The study focuses on the relationship between Carl Ditters and Olomouc, particularly to the music ensembles of Olomouc bishops, which has not yet been the subject of targeted research interest. The contribution documents Ditters' compositions in the repertoire of Olomouc churches with a particular focus on the St. Wenceslas Cathedral whose music ensemble was led by Josef Puschmann, and the pilgrimage church at Svatý Kopeček [the Holy Hill] near Olomouc, where the oldest copy of Ditters' Missa solemnis in C (Krebs 327) from the year 1770 is preserved. The study also investigates Ditters' works in the archbishop's library in Kroměříž, acquired partially via Franz Götz. Particular attention is paid to Ditters' oratorio Il Davide nella valle di Terebintho and its staging at the Kroměříž Piarists.

Anton Neumann (1721-1776) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister whose numerous original compositions are preserved in domestic as well as foreign music collections. The aim of the study is to introduce new findings on Neumann's life and point out the importance of his preserved works, many of which manifest features of the "Sturm und Drang" style. Thanks to their characteristic composition style, Neumann's works even enable us to determine the authorship for materials where the first name is missing. An extensive research project has demonstrated that his works are included in collections in Central, and partly also Western, Northern and Southern Europe. The paper discusses the importance of the fundamental collection of Neumann's compositions in the property of Benedictine monks from Lambach and a determination of the links to the composer's activity in Kroměříž. The crucial new findings involve a specification of Neumann's date of birth, and proof of his identification with the personality of a Brno tower apprentice Johann Heinrich Neumann.

Originally a Silesian musician, Johann Georg Orsler (or Orschler) was active in many places that are important for the music history of the Czech Lands: he was sent by the Count of Zerotin to study music at Rosetter and Fux in Vienna; in 1720s his activities are documented in Prague, followed by Moravia and Vienna in the service of Johann Matthias of Thurn and Valsassina, Count Franz Anton von Rottal, Count Joseph Johann Adam of Liechtenstein, or Count Thomas Vinciguerra of Collalto. The study summarizes the currently known biographic facts, and searches for the answer to the question of which of the prevalently instrumental compositions preserved under this particular surname were composed by the father, and which have to be attributed to his son Josef, a cellist of the Viennese court music ensemble.

The author of the paper searches for the answer as to what Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's personality was like. In the case of this composer, we not only have his own biography, but also numerous archive evidence preserved in this country. The answer to such a question needs to be sought already in his childhood. His father was not only a theatre tailor, as stated in the existing domestic literary sources, but the imperial and theatre embroider. The contacts of his father in theatre circles and the nobility apparently influenced Dittersdorf's future life, among other things his interest in opera. The author also observes how Dittersdorf's personality and character developed, as well as his behaviour towards the nobility and common people. Attention is paid to his trouble with superiors, especially with Baron Kaschnitz. The paper documents Dittersdorf's entrepreneurial spirit, his relationship to property and to his wife. One aspect of Dittersdorf's life which is presently little known is his religious tolerance. The text deals in detail with his relationship with Mozart as a critical reaction to the most recent publication by Ian Woodfield Cabals and Satires. Based on this, the text also deals with the topic of the Brno premiere of Dittersdorf's opera Die Hochzeit des Figaro [The Marriage of Figaro].

The study deals with the progress of the works by Josef Suk the composer (1874-1935) and its context with Czech and European modern music of the time. The goal is to show the dynamics of Suk's compositional progress, his creative struggles, stylistic means, and their significance for Czech music. The study is an attempt to answer the question, whether - or how - was Suk a representative of artistic modernity of his time, or stayed in tradition.

The subject of this analysis is the musical material of the progressive rock area, specifically the Take a Pebble song by the British band Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970). The analysis focuses on motivic and thematic coherence and the overall musical form, but also deals with substantial correlations in the field of instrumentation, harmony, rhythm, melody as well as dynamic aspect, the program content of the composition (the lyrics), interpretation style and other contexts.

The study deals with the aesthetics of singer-songwriters, namely the aesthetic category of authenticity. The aim of the text is to introduce a discussion of "authenticity" with regard to the worldwide singer-songwriters movement, especially its top female representatives (namely Carole King from the first phase in the sixties and seventies). The theoretical treatise is complemented by model analyzes of selected musical and extra-musical (textual, dance, etc.) elements that constitute what music critics call "authentic expression" - what they traditionally understand as a key criterion of musical/artistic quality (beauty, value) and on what they eventually build the canon of popular and rock music history.

At the time of B. Smetana's stay in Sweden (1856-1861), Göteborg was a rather small city and also the residence of several very wealthy families. The city a had good institutional basis for the development of music life. The standard for the audience as well as the level of musicians was influenced in particular by the experience with classicist musical works only sporadically influenced by new styles of the first half of the nineteenth century. With his intensive involvement in the organization of a musical life, and also as a teacher, piano virtuoso and a composer, Smetana gave Göteborg incentives that brought fruits already during his stay and were apparent even after his departure and deep into the nineteenth century. The inspiration was, however, mutual: the environment of Göteborg influenced Smetana and provided him with a wealth of rare life and artistic experience.

This study focuses on identifying new and effective rehabilitation strategies for patients with Alzheimer's disease, which relies on the empirically confirmed effect of musical stimuli. The strategies were inspired by studies of new rehabilitation methods designed by Nicholas Stergiou (Biomechanics Lab, University of Nebraska in Omaha), based on signals that contain artificially incorporated physiological complexity (e.g. pink noise). The physiological signals of a healthy organism contain a certain degree of such complexity. The first phase of the research includes the creation of software in a MIDI format, which enabled the implementation of this complexity into recordings of classical music, and its piloting on a "healthy" population. The following phase will examine the effects of these recordings on patients with AD (in collaboration with neurologists in diagnostics).

This contribution pursues the manifestation of social involvement in the lyrics of various genres of pop music after 1989. Any content which touches upon the life of the society or the particular social phenomenon and expresses the specific opinion of it can be considered and broadly understood as "involved". The contribution follows the development of the thematic structure of the lyrics from the 90's (e.g. post-revolutionary disillusionment, corruption and economic criminality) until the New Millenium (racism and xenophobia, nationalism, "memory loss", etc.). The subject of the detailed analysis is especially the work of the era after 2010 when the opinions which have been presented in the lyrics have highly reflected the opinion differences of the society (Xindl X, Gipsy.cz, Živé kvety, etc. versus e.g. Ortel).

This paper concerns the issue of music in two well-known twentieth-century series - Czechoslovakian Krtek (aired between 1957 and 2002) and Polish Reksio (1967-1990). My aim was to present the wealth of composer's ideas - how they provided the films not only with illustrative fragments and interesting stylizations, but even with autonomous musical images. Soundtracks reveal excellent workshop of their authors, their originality and sense of humor. Sometimes we hear classical like music, another time it is even avant-garde. To show the similiarities and differences between artistic strategies (not only strictly musical) I chose three pairs of cartoons (from both series) which action takes place in the similar surroundings or which refer to the suchlike questions. The article presents the conclusions from audiovisual analysis and therefore the description of music is inseparable from the plot. In the case of Krtek I present films with music of two composers - Miloš Vacek (1928-2012) and Vadim Petrov (1932), in case of Reksio it is one composer - Zenon Kowalowski (1939).

The article is devoted to the presentation and interpretation of critical-musical works of Max Brod, Czech-born German-Israeli writer, composer and librettist, best known as a monographer of Franz Kafka. On the basis of the press articles (published, inter alia, in German-speaking daily "Prager Tagblatt"), the author analyzes and systematizes Brod's views on musical art. Significantly, in the center of the critic's interest were found to be such composers as Leoš Janáček, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg. The press articles concerning Jewish music, more specifically - the "Jewish element" ("Jewishness") in music are discussed in detail. The author also attempts to answer whether the Zionist element of Max Brod's worldview could have affected his professional evaluation of musical pieces. At the end of the article critical-musical skills of Max Brod are subjected to the technical analysis, and his artistic views (particularly on Neue Musik) are placed in a wider context of the thought of the era.

The article, based on the long-term research of music events in contemporary Prague, aims to find the ways whereby various Prague communities remember their pasts through music. The theoretical background comes from Jan Assmann (2011), according to whom communities are bound together by the co-called connective structure; its time dimension can be understood as a way of remembrance. In the first part of the article, the author aims to elaborate an analytical approach providing a categorization of types - "modalities" - of recollection. In the second part, three such modalities created by different communities are presented: an official modality of "national heroes", the dynamic modality of the underground, and the nostalgic modality of "the children of a socialist paradise".

Although Ilse Weber's compositions have become central to the "Terezín canon", very few of her musical manuscripts are available. My study argues that the lack of sources actually serves Weber's popularity, as her Terezín songs can be tailored to the needs of individual performers to represent manifold notions of Terezín. Furthermore, my research juxtaposes Terezín's current status as a memorial site with its original function as a "Potemkin Village." Considering that much of the complexity of Terezín's original soundscape has been ignored or suppressed, I argue that it has become a simplified mirror image of the "model ghetto" it originally was.

Nešvera Josef (1842, Hořovice - 1914, Olomouc), a major representative of Smetana and Dvořák composer's school, choir director, a much sought-after teacher and performer, an honorary member of many Czech and Moravian associations and the holder of state honors, conducted the orchestra of the Cathedral of St. Wenceslas in Olomouc for thirty years (1884-1914). In promoting the Cyrillic reforms he relied on his predecessor Pavel Křížkovský (1820-1885).
His period meant the stabilization of organization and repertoire. The choir consisted of six singers and an equal number of pupils of the foundation school, it was strengthened by hiring scholars on Sundays and holidays.
In his repertoire - except Křížkovský and numerous Nešvera's works - occurred compositions by Renaissance authors (J. Handl-Gallus, O. di Lasso, G. P. da Palestrina and T. L. de Victoria), representatives from the German reform-oriented schools (F. X. Witt, E. Stehle, J. B. Benz and M. Brosig) and finally compositional domestic range (J. B. Foerster, K. Stecker, F. Picka, F. Hruška, J. C. Sychra, etc.). Nešvera's foundation also enjoyed good reputation and it produced many celebrities who were also applied in the professional music sector (S. Tauber, H. and M. Doležil and J. Kvapil). During Nešvera's tenure, Olomouc Dom choir ranked among the best church ensembles in Moravia.
The study deals with the compositional activities of Josef Nešvera. From more than 400 liturgical songs the sacramental significance reached 31 compositions and 4 requiems. Nešvera's compositional language is introduced through the analysis Missa sancti Theodori honorem in B flat major, Op. 67 (1893) and sacred cantatas St. Wenceslas (end of 80s of the 19th century).

The technologies of the 20th century represent an important milestone for the concept of musical work in history that concerns not only music composition itself but also its conservation and transmission.
It might have been in the field of music composition that these tendencies have become apparent first - in the construction of first electronic musical instruments; the integration of civilization, primarily non-musical sounds into classical music compositions; and after World War II, also in the new composition methods that record media started employing (e.g. magnetic tapes used for sound collage or phase shifts); furthermore, in the algorithmic composition mathematical formulae and computers applied (as digital support for the restoration of music scores or even as the proper creator of the composition that the computer either reproduces or conveys its graphical notation) or so-called live electronic music (in the sense of the flexibility of technical operations during live performances - reproductions of the work). However, computer music has also brought up new questions on the conception of the work of art and the scope and definition of music itself. These specific traits of so-called new music from the point of view of copyright are the subject of the Appraisal of the Institute of Copyright, Industrial Property and Competition Law of the Faculty of Law of Charles University (abbreviated Appraisal UPAPP) that reflects on the works of electronic and experimental music.
The study also touches on the possibilities of mass distribution of works, mainly related to the Internet and the development of new digital media with which can help to preserve (or fixate) and distribute recordings. These relatively new digital platforms and formats are on the one hand a way to liberalise and shift the distribution of music. On the other hand, they mean some flattening of the quality (technical and content) and a corresponding sharp increase in the quantity of recorded music. These aspects are also reflected in copyright law, where they have caused an increase of the specific problems related mainly to illegal distribution of musical works. Copyright law already regulates so-called indirect means of copyright protection (e.g. § 43). In the future, today's strategy of no responsibility for what content customers are offered on the side of website operators is threatened, since the advocates of stricter protection promote new harsher laws, for example liability of owners and operators of Websites for their content and trying to de facto introduce some form of Internet censorship.

Peter Breiner is a unique composer. His compositional work is polystylistical, therefore ranks among the most original Slovak music stars of the 20th century. Neoclassical compositional style draws from multiple roots: of classical European music, from American jazz and modern popular music and the Slovak folklore. Its key creation till 1995 includes symphonic, respectively vocal-symphonic works, chamber music and also dance tracks to rock character.

Die Geschichte der modernen tschechischen Populärmusik vor dem Jahr 1989 umfasst eine Vielzahl von vermischten Stilrichtungen. Aus der Sicht der gemeinschaftlichen Bedeutung gehören zu den wichtigsten von ihnen zweifellos die Bereiche der Folkmusik, Countrymusik und Wanderlieder. Obwohl viele bedeutende Ereignisse, die mit den Konstitutionen dieses Musikbereiches verbunden sind, sich in Prag abspielten, entwickelten sich seit den Sechzigerjahren erfolgreich insbesondere lokale Kreis- und Bezirksszenen. Nicht einmal die Olmützer Szene war eine Ausnahme, in der während der Sechziger und Achtziger Jahre eine Menge von bemerkenswerten Solisten und Gruppen erschienen. Ein Olmützer Künstler, der einen gesamtstaatlichen Erfolg erzielte, war Karel Plíhal. Der Volksmusikliedermacher begann seine Karriere in den Sechziger Jahren in der örtlichen Gruppen Hučka, Falešní Hráči und Plíharmonyje. Zu Anfang der Achtziger Jahre begab er sich auf Solokarriere. Dank seiner hohen originellen Werke reihte sich Plíhal zu den bedeutendsten Darstellern, der sogenannten zweiten Generation der tschechischen Folkmusik, ein. Eine Olmützer Countrygruppe, die deutlich in das gesamtstaatliche Geschehen eingriff, war beispielsweise Bluegrass Nova.
Parallel zur steigenden Beliebtheit der Folkmusik, Countrymusik und Wanderlieder bei dem Olmützer Publikum kam es zu einer Ausbreitung der örtlichen institutionalen Basis dieser Musik. Während der Sechziger und Achtziger Jahre in Olmütz fanden zahlreiche mehr oder weniger bedeutende Festivals und Musikschauen statt, und es entstanden neue Clubs. Die lokalen Kulturorganisationen veranstalteten ebenfalls regelmäßige Populärvortragszyklen und Seminare über die Schlüsselfiguren, Gruppen und Stile des inkriminovierten Musikbereiches. Ein Ehrenplatz in der Geschichte der heimatlichen Populärmusik in Olmütz gebührt auch dank der Veranstaltung einem der bedeutendsten heimatlichen Festivale - Porta, das hier sehr erfolgreich in den Jahren 1977, 1978 und 1979 stattfand.

One of the closest friends of Professor Poledňák during his studies in Brno was Miloš Rejnuš, extremely talented not only as historian but also as dramatist. Unfortunately, his career took an abrupt end during an automobile accident when he was just going to visit a theatre performance in a town near Brno. His principal work, Ur-Hamlet (if Goethe wrote Ur-Faust, so Rejnuš wrote his Kennedyan judge Warren as a ur-history of Hamlet), although almost finished was re-re-written by another playwright-poet, Václav Renč, in form not only of a drama, but also of an opera (The Poison of Elsinor).