Jaroslav Řídký was a Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

, harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

ist, and music teacher.

Life

Řídký was born at Reichenberg, now Liberec

Liberec

Liberec is a city in the Czech Republic. Located on the Lusatian Neisse and surrounded by the Jizera Mountains and Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge, it is the fifth-largest city in the Czech Republic....

. From 1919 to 1923 he studied at the Prague Conservatory

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 :...

 with Josef Bohuslav Foerster

Josef Bohuslav Foerster

Josef Bohuslav Foerster was a Czech composer of classical music. He is often referred to as J. B. Foerster. The surname is sometimes spelled Förster.- Life :...

, Karel Boleslav Jirák

Karel Boleslav Jirák

Karel Boleslav Jirák was a Czechoslovak composer and conductor....

, and Jaroslav Křička

Jaroslav Kricka

Jaroslav Křička was a Czech composer.He was born in Kelč and died in Prague.In 1936 he won a bronze medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his "Mountain Suite".-External links:*...

. Besides teaching at the Conservatory from 1924 to 1949, he also played the harp for the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

The Česká filharmonie is a symphony orchestra based in Prague and is the best-known and most respected orchestra in the Czech Republic.- History :...

 between 1924 and 1938, and conducted the Philharmonic choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 from 1925 to 1930.

In 1928 Řídký attended as a conductor the premiere of Leoš Janáček

Leoš Janácek

Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...

´s chamber composition Capriccio

Capriccio (Janácek)

The Capriccio for Piano Left-Hand and Chamber Ensemble is a composition by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. The work was written in the autumn of 1926 and is remarkable not just in the context of Janáček's output, but it also occupies an exceptional position in the literature written for piano...

. He died at Poděbrady

Podebrady

Poděbrady is a historical spa town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It lies on the river Labe 50 km east of Prague on the D11 highway. A historic milestone in the life of the town was the year 1905, when it was visited by the German estate owner Prince von Bülow...

.

Style

He composed seven symphonies

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

 and one sinfonietta

Sinfonietta (symphony)

A sinfonietta is a symphony that is smaller in scale or lighter in approach than a standard symphony. Although of Italian form, the word is not genuine in that language and has seldom been used by Italian composers. It appears to have been coined in 1874 by Joachim Raff for his Op...

, one string

String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

 serenade

Serenade

In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....

, concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

s for violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 (1), 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...

 (1), and cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 (2), chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

, pieces for piano, cantata

Cantata

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....

s, and also prepared his own arrangement

Arrangement

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

s of folk songs

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

. His work is composed rather in traditional style, first compostitions are influenced by romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

, later he composed in traditional, neo-classical style. His oeuvre contains 47 numbered opuses, both in chamber and orchestral instrumentation. Řídký composed also violin, piano and two violoncello concertos. In 1954 he was awarded National Prize for his Piano Concerto Op. 46.

Selected works

Chamber

• Quintet A-Dur for Clarinet and Strings Op. 5 (1926)
• String Quartet No. 1. Op. 6 (1927)
• Nonet No. 1. Op. 32 (1934–1935)
• Piano Trio Op. 44 (1951)
• Capriccio Op. 21 (1931–1934)

Orchestral

• Symphony No. 1 Op. 3 (1924)
• Symphony No. 3 Op. 8 (1927–1928)
• Symphony No. 7 Op. 47 (1955)
• Symfonieta Op. 41 (1945–1946)
• Violin Concerto Op. 7 (1927–1928)
• Piano Concerto Op. 46 (1952)

External links

• Commemorative website (in Czech)