František Kmoch
Encyclopedia
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...
composer and conductor.
Life and career
František Kmoch was born in ZásmukyZásmuky
Zásmuky is a town in Kolín District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. - Žije zde :Ten nejúžasnější človíček na světě ♥* HistoriePrvní písemná zmínka o obci pochází z roku 1285.Památky ve městěZámek Zásmuky...
, near Kolín
Kolín
Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic some east from Prague, lying on the Elbe river.-History:Kolín was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, first mentioned in 1261. Later on, 1437, a castle was founded here...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. His father was a tailor and a clarinetist who performed folk music. As a child, František learned to play the violin, and by the age of 10 he was already beginning to compose small pieces.
In 1868 he was studying at the Teachers College in 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...
, and by 1869 he had become a teacher in Suchdol, Bohemia. In addition to his occupation as a teacher, he zealously performed in several ensembles, continued to develop himself as a conductor, and composed. In 1873 he was excluded from further assignment as an instructor, allegedly because he had neglected his teaching duties, preferring instead to appear with performing ensembles at balls. It has been suggested, however, that the dismissal was a political decision, since Kmoch did not conceal his sympathies for the nationalistic Sokol
Sokol
The Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...
athletic movement.
In 1868 he became conductor of the Sokol Wind Orchestra in Kolín. During the 1873 Gymnastics Festival in Prague the Orchestra played a prominent role in the opening ceremony, and visitors who attended the event warmly received the wind orchestra's offerings, both original compositions by Kmoch and arrangements of well-known folk songs.
During this time he married Josefa Kahslova, daughter of a metalworker from Kolín; their marriage was blessed with five daughters.
The city music corps in Kolín also chose him as its conductor and he immediately created a school of music attached to it. In 1882 the school gained official state recognition. Various cities, including Prague, invited him to become conductor of their respective city wind orchestras, but Kmoch preferred to remain in Kolín. With his excellent wind orchestra he made excursions to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, and Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, and even a three-month journey through Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. He died in Kolín
Kolín
Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic some east from Prague, lying on the Elbe river.-History:Kolín was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, first mentioned in 1261. Later on, 1437, a castle was founded here...
.
Style
In reaction to the military marches of the Austro-Hungarian empire, he wrote marches that were deeply rooted in Czech tradition, folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and folk music. In a Kmoch march, the middle section which we generally know today as the trio was almost always underlaid with texts, to be sung by musicians or choirs, or eventually the entire audience. These texts were an important expression in the development of Czech national consciousness.
Appreciation
In gratitude the city of Kolín has organized a Kmochův Kolín Festival annually since 1961, which attracts prominent wind orchestras from all of Europe. A sculpture with the image of František Kmoch stands in the city park of Kolín, and a wind orchestra in the city still bears his name. A biographical film about Kmoch was produced with the title He was a Czech musician, and an operetta about him bears the title How Kmoch lived and played. In 1998, at the 150th anniversary of his birth, the Czech State Bank issued a 200-crownCzech koruna
The Czech koruna or Czech crown has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 8 February 1993 when, together with its Slovak counterpart, it replaced the Czechoslovak koruna at par....
silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
coin.
Kmoch is considered the most popular march composer of his country after Julius Fučík
Julius Fucík (composer)
Julius Arnost Wilhelm Fučík was a Czech composer and conductor of military bands.Fučík spent most of his life as the leader of military brass bands. He became a prolific composer, with over 300 marches, polkas, and waltzes to his name...
. His oeuvre includes about 500 works.
Orchestral Works
- Andulka šafářová
- Visit to Vienna, a concert polka
- Wind music is playing
- Česká muzika
- Diese Musik, ja die gefällt
- Duo for Two Trumpets
- Festival March
- Springtime Youth
- Hoj, Mařenko!
- Jarabáček
- Jara mládí
- Kolíne, Kolíne (Kolíne, Kolíne, stojíš v pěkné rovině - Kolin, Kolin, you lie in a beautiful plain...)
- Koně vraný
- Letem světem (Flights through the world)
- My beautiful homeland
- Měsíček svítí
- Milý sen Concert waltzes
- Můj koníček
- Muziky, muziky
- Na motoru
- Na hrazdě, kvapík
- Na stříbropěnném Labi
- Nad Labem
- Plzeňský Pochod
- Po starodávnu
- Pod našima okny
- Pode mlejnem
- Pošumavské stráně
- Romance pro křídlovku
- Rozmarná
- Roztomilá
- Beautiful Prague
- Šly panenky silnicí
- Sokol Nazdar!
- Sokolský den
- Vraný koně
- Vy hvězdičky
- Vždy milá
- Za sokolským praporem
- Zastaveníčko
- Zelení hájové!
- Zlatá Praha