Jaroslav Kricka

born: 1882-08-27
died: 1969-01-23
birthplace: Kelc
diedplace: Praha

Born in the family of school director and musician as the oldest of 3 siblings. His brother Petr became a poet, his sister Pavla a writer. Father taught his children violin, piano and singing. Jaroslav studied at the Prague and finished his musical studies in Berlin (1905-1906). Then he spent 3 years in Russian Empire (Dnepropetrovsk, todays Dnipro, Ukraine) where he promoted Czech music and became friends a.o. with Alexandr Glazunov. Back in Prague, 1909, he became a choirmaster of the famous Czech choir Hlahol and introduced a number of new pieces of the contemporary Czech authors (Janáček, Novák, Jeremiáš). In 1918 became a professor of composition at Prague conservatory and later a headmaster. After WW II., he dedicated all his time to composition. In his early works influenced by Russian authors, later also by Czech modern composers and Czech and Moravian traditional music.

Work:

• 9 song cycles
• 6 cantatas
• Orchestral works (2 symphonies and other works)
• Chamber music (a.o. 3 string quartets)
• Stage music (operas, operettas also for children, theatre play music)
• Film music

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