Anatol Provazník was a Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 organist and composer.

Anatol Provazník was son of Alois Provazník

Alois Provazník

Alois Provazník was a Czech composer and musical pedagogue.During 1867–1970 Provazník was a singer at the Church of St...

, a regional composer. He studied at the gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 in Rychnov nad Kněžnou

Rychnov nad Knežnou

Rychnov nad Kněžnou is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 12,000 inhabitants.This is a small town, with a sprinkling of other small towns in the vicinity. The nearest big city is Hradec Králové which is about 32 km to the west...

 and then at the music conservatory in Prague

Prague Conservatory

Prague Conservatory, sometimes also Prague Conservatoire, in Czech Pražská konzervatoř, is a Czech secondary school in Prague dedicated to teaching the arts of music and theater acting.- Instruction :...

, finishing in 1907. During 1907–1911 he worked as an organist in the St Vitus Cathedral, later he moved to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.

Provazník became very interested in the emerging radio broadcasting. He studied "radiophony" in Berlin and after return to Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 he helped to set up the music department of the Czech Radio. Since 1930 he worked, for sixteen years, as the proxy director of this department. Provazník was a friend with Karel Hašler

Karel Hašler

Karel Hašler was a Czech songwriter, actor, lyricist, film and theatre director, composer, writer, dramatist, screenwriter and cabaretier...

 and other artists.

Provazník is author of about 240 musical works including several opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s and five operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

s. He also adapted many classical piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and orchestra works to fit in radio broadcasting. These adaptations were performed for long time after his death.

Selected works

Stage

• Akrobat, Comic Opera in 1 act (1928); libretto by Ladislav Novák after Gottfried August Bell
• Ghitta, Opera in 3 acts (1937); libretto by the composer

Orchestral

• Valse des morts (1909)
• Suita z venkova (Country Suite; Suite champêtre; Ländliche Suite), Op. 53 (published 1936)

Concertante

• Concert Fantasy for viola and orchestra, Op.51 (published 1930s)

Chamber music

• Valse joyeuse for violin and piano, Op.137 (published 1924)
• Hindu Song for violin and piano, Op.140 (published 1924)
• Valse triste for violin and piano, Op.142 (published 1924)

Piano

• Ballade en souvenir du grand maître Fr. Chopin: drame passionel, Op.130 (published 1924)
• Valse joyeuse, Op.137 (published 1924)

Vocal

• The Gardener, 3 Songs for voice and piano, Op.131 (published 1925); words by Rabindranath Tagore
  Rabindranath Tagore
  Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
  
  
• Chinesische Flöte, Lieder for voice and piano, Op.132 (published 1925); words by Li Bai
  Li Bai
  Li Bai , also known in the West by various other transliterations, especially Li Po, was a major Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty poetry period. He has been regarded as one of the greatest poets in China's Tang period, which is often called China's "golden age" of poetry. Around a thousand existing...
  
  , Seng-ju Wang and Fu Du

Choral

• Cantantibus organis (150. Žalm), Variations for soloists, chorus, organ and orchestra, Op.52 (published 1936)
• Žalm 116 (Psalm 116) for soprano, chorus organ and orchestra, Op.56 (published 1937)

External links

• Very short biography