Czech Music in
(Picture)
Ceska Hudba v Nebrasce
OUR COVER PICTURE
The Pavlik Band of Ne Nebraskaraska ).
(Flag)
Editor Vladimir Kucera
Co-editor DeLores Kucera
(Emblem)
Copyright 1980 by Vladimir Kucera
DeLores Kucera
Published 1980
Bohemians
(Czechs) as a whole are extremely fond of dramatic performances. One of their sayings is “The sStage
is the sSchool of lL
A
very large percentage are good musicians, so that wherever even a small group
lives, they are sure to have a very good band.
Ruzena Rosicka
They love their native music, with its pronounced and unusual rhythm especially when played by their somewhat martial bands.
A Guide to the
Czechs—A Nation of Musicians
An
importantA typical aspect of Czechoslovakian
folklore is music. Song and music at all
times used to accompany man from the cradle to the grave and wereas
a necessary accompaniment of all important family events. The most popular of the musical instruments
were bagpipes, usually with violin, clarinet and cembalo accompaniment.
Typical for pastoral soloist music were different types of fifes and horns, the latter often monstrous contraptions, several feet long.
Traditional
folk music has been at present superseded by modern forms, but old ruralold rural
musical instruments and popular tunes have beenhave been
revived in amateur groups of folklore music or during folklore festivals.
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ZLATE CESKE VZPOMINKY
GOLDEN CZECH MEMORIES
There
is an old proverb which says that every Czech is born, not with a silver
spoon in his mouth, but with a violin under his pillow. Such a saying is certainly testimony to the
musical proclivities of this western outpost of the Slavic race.
Suffering forges the great links in the chain of musical expression. Perhaps this accounts for the emotional beauty of Czech music. For the Czechs have loved their country with a passion—and their land has been invaded, raped and divided innumerable times in the last thousand years.
All
the pathos and pride of such a heritage have spawned a beautiful melancholy into
the romance of Czech music. The triumphs
and travails of these valiant people, who have
resisted destruction with their love of the land, have developed led to folk
melodies and dances that gave birth to the musical genius of such sons as
Dvorak, Smetana and Janacek.
Czech
dancing and singing are the products of hundreds of years of change wrought by
the course of history. The culture,
learned and folk, of the Germans, Hungarians and Austrians who dominated the
country for centuries and, theand
the Reformation under Jan Hus, which
heralded the awakening of the nation, left their signature on Czech folk art.
The
Hussite movement in Like other nations embarking on a new
historical period, tThey used
secular melodies and set new words to them in keeping with the spirit of the
new nationalism.
It is even said that the Czech Hussites routed the Imperial German Army with the singing of “Ktoz jsu Bozi bojovnici” (Ye, warriors of the Lord).
Underneath
this layer of folk history lies an even older one that goes back to the time
when these ancient Slavs worshipped pagan gods.
The songs for the New Year, Easter and Christmas, in spite of their
Christian disguise, reveal ancient rites and beliefs in the texts. , ancient rites and
beliefs. Some of them are
still sung today.
Shepherds
songs, love songs, songs of nature and dance songs abound in Czech folk
music. Many ancient ceremonies and tunes
are connected with burying the stuffed effigies representing Death as a way of
greeting the advent of Springspring. At harvest time a “wheat-bride” is
chosen. On May Day eve (Walpurgis Night)
fires are kindled to rid the locale of witches.
Most of these customs have dwindled out.
One of these old New Years’ Day songs (koledy) set down in 1426 by the
priest Jan of Hoksov was still sung in the 19th century—with some
variation, of course. Melodic elements
of this ancient model
are also found in some wedding and harvest songs.
The
Czech people are the most wWesternized
of all the Slavic people. Even though
they originally came from the East, their music in the last few centuries has
shown its face to be more Western. The
melodies are dominated by a harmonic feeling, rhythms are simple 2/4 ,or 3/4, or a combination of both for many dances. Even when a few declamatory, slow melodies
are found they are made to conform to a metrical pattern.
The
lyrics of these songs most often tell of the beauties of peace and love rather
than the glories of war. From the
beginning , the Bohemians
and
the Moravians,
like their Slavic brothers, were herdsmen and farmers. Even their early mythology has no war-like
gods, no symbols to glorify militarism.
Slavic songs sing of nature and the tenderness of love. When they tell us history, it is to lament
the loss of liberty, the death of a hero, or to tell us the splendor of a city
conquered by the enemy.
Czech
music is made in a single spirit, which gives men the culture of God and not an
injected culture. That is why the Czech
music, so long as it springs from this source, will join all countrymen in solidarity. Music binds all nations and all people with
one spirit, one happiness, one paradise.
The enchanting Czech melodies that have inspired musicians—where do they come from? What gave them shape? Leaf through dusty tomes, peer through ancient Church archives, remember the tragedies, the heroism and the love to find the answer. Or, if you could see the Czechs in their handsome costumes dance the furiant, the polka, the kolecko, the rejdovak and the rejdovacka during the many holidays and feast days the story would come to life before your eyes—all the “zlate vzpominky”.
Mrs. DeLores Kucera
(Picture on Page 7) Mikulas Ales:
A young violinist
CZECHS:
THE MOST MUSICAL PEOPLE OF ALL
The Czech people have always been
recognized as specially gifted musically ands
tens of thousand folk songs bear witness.
Music, often called the languagespeaking of the heart, occupies the foremost
position in the cultural art field of the Czech people. The National Anthem, festival songs, love
songs, religious hymns, patriotic and Sokol songs and the simple folk songs that speak
of the things closest to the heart of every Czech:,
love of homeland, church, family and friend.,
Theseall combine
to form the richest segment of the Czech folk and artistic art.
Some of the songs are carefree and happy. Some are sad and melancholy, but they all
bear
the startling resemblance of reflectingreflect the
everyday emotions of a nation of Czech people.
MThe musical
historian, Charles Burney, in 1773,
called Czechs the most musical people of
all
Music is an integrated part of every Czech’s way of life; at home, in
church, at work and on festive occasions.
The partisans created their stirring patriotic songs during every political,
cultural and religious oppression.
On the contrary,
the
Slovak music shows the heavy influence of the Hungarian
music (sometimes referred to as gypsy rhythm).
This influence came about when theduring
Slovak
nation was ruled almost athe
nearly thousand years and the
Slovak nation suffered under the Hungarian rule
over-lords. Perhaps a
change never came afterward due to the fact that thebecause
Slovaks never entered under the influence of Czech and Western music.
The Czech and Moravian songs are an entirely different sphere of melody. They typify the happy and gay spirit of a happy and gay people.
Czech national songs are centuriesy
old,
with
their originoriginiatingoriginating
as far back as in the period
of the prehistorical age of our nation. EvenAlready
during pagan times, our forefathers had love, and dance
and
even war songs., indeed the war songs
too. They also had mourning
songs to sing, which they were singing
on the
graves and special exorcist songs against diseases.
In the early time of Christianity, when all the culture
was only a privilege of clergy, the secular folk songs were damned and
therefore were not recorded. But just enough early Czech folk songs are
documented in the country. FJust for
example: one of the followers of the
Chronicler Kosmas (See note 2), Canon Pragensis Vincentius, who lived in the 12th
century, describing the glorious Italian campaign of the Czech king Vladislav, did remarked
that during the preparation for this campaign in 1158 , the war
songs were resounded throughout the Czech
lands.
Later, we have information about a song thatwhich accompanied
the old pagan custom ofto carrying
out
the image of Morana, the goddess
of winter and death, from the village.
The songs did started with these
words: Vele, vele, stoji dubec prostred
dvora (See, see, the oak stays in
the middle of the yard).
During the early time of Christianity, the educated
priests composed only the religious hymns.
One of the oldest written documents is the hymn “Gospodi,
pomiluj ny” (Lord, have mercy upon
us). The earliest version of this hymn, from the 11th
or beginning of the 12th century, is written in athe
language resembling the Old Slavonic language, but with some Czech
locutions. Some historians attributed
this hymn to Svaty Vojtech (Saint Adalbert) 956-997, the first Czech bishop of
This hymn is sung in modernized language in Czech churches in our time still:
Hospodine, pomiluj ny, pomiluj ny – smiluj se nadnami
Jezu Kriste, pomiluj ny.
Ty Spase vsehomira, Spase – Spasiteli
()Saviour)
Spasiz ny I uslysiz;
Hospodine, hlasy nas,
Dej nam vsem,
Hospodine,
Zizn a mier v zemi! Sizn – uroda (crop)
Mier – mir (peace)
Krles, krles, krles!
The invocation Krles, an expression of the Old Slavonic
language, is resemblingresembles the
Latin invocation Kyrie eleison.
THE SAINT WENCESLAS HYMN
Another very ancient and historically important hymn is
(Music of Hospodine, pomiluj ny, Page 11.)
the “Saint
Wenceslas Hymn” (Svaty Vaclave), invoking the Prince, Saint Wenceslas, Patron
of the Czech country. The date of this
hymn cannot be ascertained either, but there is evidence that the veneration
of the murdered Prince Wenceslas was already underway in the 11th century.
The composition of the hymn, which is rhymeless with , but
had frequent assonance, also proves its antiquity.
Saint Wenceslas, Duke of the Czech lands. Svaty Vaclave, vevodo ceske
Our Prince, pray to God for us, zeme, knize nas, pros za nas
And the Holy
Ghost! – Kyrie eleison! Boha,
Svateho Ducha,
Kriste elejson!
O, Thy, Inheritor of Czech lands, Ty jsi dedic ceske zeme,
Remember Thy race, Thy people, rozpomen se na sve pleme,
Suffering not us nor our children nedej zahynouti nam ni
To perish, Saint Wenceslas! Budoucim, Svaty Vaclave!
Kriste elejson
Many additional verses were added to
this hymn when it became very popular.
And this hymn was a part of the coronation of the Czech
kings.
To this old religious hymn we may
add two Easter church songs: “Jezu Kriste, scedry kneze” (Jesus Christ, Generous
Prince), and “Boh vsemohuci” ()Almighty
God), both from the 14th century.
Jan Hus nationalized the Czech
liturgy and prepared, for his faithful in the
The Hussites, his followers,
strictly opposed
ornate church liturgy, and also, unfortunately, the liturgical
art
music. This delayed the
development of music in Czech lands for by at
least two centuries. (See note 3)
The great strategist Jan Zizka, the military
leader of the people’s army of Hussites in the victorious
campaigns, was the author of the war-song or war hymn “Ktoz jsu Bozi bojovnici”
(Ye, warriors of the Lord), which has often been called the Czech Marseillaise of the 15th century:
You who are champions of God and of His law,
Pray Him to assist you and laud Him and His law,
So shall we conquer through God and be victorious\
Kdoz jste Bozi bojovnici a zakona Jeho,
Prostez
od Boha pomoci a doufejtez v Neho,
Ze
konecne s Nim vzdycky zvitezime!
Our Lord has told us not to fear those who can kill the body,
But keep Him near, and fight with will.
Fight valiantly them with no fear and make strong your hearts
Tent Pan veli se nebati zahubci telesnych,
Velit I zivot ztratiti pro lasku bliznich svych,
Proto posilnete zmuzile srdci svych
From the 15th and 16th
centuries we have a few folk songs. FJust for
example: the song “Zalo devce, zalo travu”
(A girl reaping the grass) isand popular song in our
time, but originally this old folk song did startstarted
differently: “Pekna Kaca zala travu” (A
nice Catherine was reaping the grass).
The most numerous of
The
largest number of folk songs are from the 18th and 19th
centuries, from the period of the deepest
national and political destruction, from the stormy period
in whichwhen the Czech nation struggled for
its cultural existence and for the independent national life
And it was
the common and simple people in the small towns and people
in villages who saved and preserved spirit and language mostly
with folk songs. If we may cite just a
few: For example, the popular
song “Horo, horo, vysoka jsi” (O, mount, mount, how high you are) was composed
in 1834 in the jail in
soldier expecting the death
penalty for murdering his girlfriend.
Many of theose folk
songs from these centuries have much lyrical and
musical worthprize and have had
a deep influence onfor the
development of modern music (Dvorak, Smetana).
Also influential are Vaclav Hanka’s
(Note 3) song “Vystavim si skromnou chaloupku” (I will build a spare cottage),
and the songs “Moravo, Moravo” (Moravia, Moravia),
“Nad Berounkou pod Tetinem” (Up the river under Tetin), “U panskeho dvora” (At
the Lord’s yard),
Byvali Cechove”, “Tazete se proc jsem
Slovan” (You are asking me why I am a Slav), “Cervena, modra fiala” (The red
and blue violet).
A very popular modern time folk song “Koline, Koline” (O, Kolin, Kolin) has
its origin after the battle at
THE SONG OF THE NATIONAL PRIDE – Choral naarodni
hrdosti
The Czech National Anthem “Kde domov muj” (Where is m,y home) has its origin
in the operatta “Fidlovacka aneb zadny hnev a rvacka” (The Fidlovacka or not any anger and
fighting). The mMusic
of this drama was composed by Frantisek Skroup and the lyrics by
Josef Kajetan Tyl.
The operetta “Fidlovacka” was at first
performed on reason goal of this
play was to strengthen the national feeling during thea period
of very rigid cultural oppression.
The song “Kde domov muj” was performed in the fourth act of that
operetta.. In the scene, all was quiet when the actor
Karel Mares, portraying a blind violinist, first started with his saying:
“Mnoho neumim, co ale dam, jde ze srdce” (Much I don’t know, but what I am
giving you, it is coming from my heart).
Then, after a short prelude of violin and
horns, the singer Karel Mareshe sang
with deep affection is singing about the beauty of the Czech
land and about its people:
Kde domov muj? Kde domov muj?
Voda huci po lucinach,
Bory sumi po skalinach,
V sade stkvi se jara kvet
Zemsky raj
to na pohled.
A to je ta krasna zeme,
Zeme ceska, domov muj,
Zeme ceska, domov muj.
Where is my home? Where is my home?
Rivers roar through the meadows,
Pines rustle over the mountains,
The spring flowers brilliantly
Bloom in the orchards,
And at first sight behold
An earthly paradise!
And this beautiful land is
My country, my home,
My country, my home.
But, after the first performance, thethis
operetta “Fidlovacka” was forbidden because the Austrian police in thethis
play-- especially
the aria “”Kde domov
muj”-- would
excite
incite the Czech people against the
tyranny of the Austrian government.
(Music of “Kde domov muj?” on Page 16.
This song “Kde
domov muj” is essentially characteristic of the Czech people. There are no battle cries or praise of king
or kingdom, there is just the humble admiration of the people for the beauty of
Czech rivers, woods, meadows, and majestic mountains. There is a reverence to their homeland as a
paradise on earth. Historians of music
have marveled at the simplicity of theis
song,
“Kde domov
muj”, and soon the is aria
was accepted by all the nation and consequently recognized as the official
National Anthem in 1918 when an independent
THE AUTHOR OF THE LYRICS OF ‘FIDLOVACKA’
Josef Kajetan Tyl (1808-1856), the
author of the lyrics of this operetta, was born on ing,
especially by linguist Josef Jungmann
(1773-1847) and Tyl’s forerunner Vaclav Klicpera (1792-1859). Later J. K. Tyl started to study Philosophy,
but his love for drama and dramatic activity was much stronger. Therefore, he left the Faculty and he dedicated
his entire life as a writerto
writing of more than one hundred dramas,
mostly about Czech history, and as being a
member of athe traveling
dramatical company. But, his writing and
acting life could not support him. He
was persecuted by the police and close to death and without
money when he died
Thousands and thousands of the Czech
folk songs were composed during the 18th and 19th
centuries. YThe young
people, after working hard as slaves in the
fields of the noblemen,
were sittingwould sit
at night in the village square and singing. Some gifted girl or boy wrote lyrics, others
in the group composed the music, and from that a folk song was born.
How rich is thea
treasure of our folk songs. The most
precious aspects of Czech folklore were conceived by the Czech people
themselves and furthered by the great musical artists too. This can
be seen in thee compositions of Antonin Dvorak, his
operas, symphonies, Biblical songs, the artistic work of Bedrich Smetana, his
famous opera “Prodana Nevesta” (Bartered Bride), the work of Zdenek Fibich,
Janacek’s musical compositions in the modern time and rich line of other
modernists.
The most popular composer of modern
folk songs was Karel Hasler, considered a patriotic martyr for the song he
composed during the Nazi occupation of
hHis
political parody (skit) of the song
“Pisnicka ceska” (Our Czech song). His
parody:
To je ta pisnicka Ceska
Kterou si zpivame dneska.
Poslyste, lidicky, zahodte vidlicky,
Bez tak uz neni co zrat.
Vsecko nam sebrali,
Vsecko nam sezral,
Nechali jen ten protektorat. (See note 5)
To je ta pisnicka Ceska,
Kterou si zpivame dneska.
(See note 6)
Hosi od gestapa, vy tu pekne spite,
Vy
se odtud domu nikdy nevratite.
Nevratite
se vy nikdy domu zpatky,
Budou
pro vas plakat otcove I matky,
Zustante tady jako bidne tretv.
Budu pro vas plakat otcove I matky.
It is that Czech song,
That we are singing today.
Listen, folks, throw away the forks,
Anyway there is nothing to eat now,
All they took from us.
All they devour from us.
And left the Protectorate to us.
It is that Czech song,
That we are singing today.
You bad men of the Gestapo,
You are nicely sleeping here,
But you will never return
You will never return
You will never return to your homeland.
Karel Hasler was arrested by the
Gestapo on , he was and tied
with other prisoners under the icy shower and left there until his death on
Karel Hasler ,
popular composer of folk songs, gave to his beloved country and
people many songs. His most popular
songs are:
Kdyz se nad Prahou vecer
sklani Na cisarske louce
stoji rada topolu
Nad Prahou tancily hvezdicky
Hosi od Zborova Vltavo, Vltavo, vodicko hluboka
Musiky, muziky and hundreds of others
Pisnicka Ceska
Our music and, our folk
songs, are the sweetness of the Czech soul,
so devoted to the homeland because it is thea
beating of our hearts.
Ta nase pisnicka Ceska, Our Czech song is so sweet,
Ta je tak hezka, tak hezka, it is so sweetly alluring,
Tak jako na louce kyticka, just like flowers on the meadow,
Vyrostla ta nase pisnicka. That’s how our song has become.
Az se ta pisnicka ztrati, Then, if we should lose our songs,
Pak uz nic nebudem mit, nothing in life will remain,
Jestli nam zahyne, if it should ever die,
Vsechno s ni pomine, each thing will pass away,
Potom uz nebudem zit. Nothing in life will remain.
Partly from an article “Music in
By Vladimir Kucera in his book “Let us learn
Czech”.
Notes
1. “Every Czech a musician” was a
famous slogan and the great English music historian, Dr. Charles Burney
(1726-1814), who in 1771 traveled in
The
Provinces,--(
Century Musical Tour in
University Press, 1959) Cf. Chapter X, p. 131,32
2. Kosmas, Canon Pragensis, the author of Latin :Chronica Bohemorum” (Kronika Ceska) and called “the father of Czech history.” His work consists of three books, but was only after Bozetecna’s (his wife) death in 1117, that Kosmas began his great historical work.
3. Vaclav Hanka (1791-1861), a poet and philologist. From his collection of folk songs entitled “Pisne” (Songs), still popular are: “Moravo, Moravo” and “Vystavim si skromnou chaloupku.” It was Hanka who supposedly found the famous ancient manuscripts: “Rukopis kralovedvorsky and Zelenohorsky” (Queen’s Court and Green Mountain Manuscripts). Some modern literary historians and especially prof. Tomas Masaryk declared those Hanka’s manuscripts as forgeries. But the importance of the manuscripts for Czech national ideology, poetry and art at that time cannot be overestimated.
4. Fidlovacka (the shoemakers festival) is an instrument used by shoemakers as a slicker of hide
5.
Protektorat. March 15th, l939, the second black
day for our nation. A definite
liquidation of
6. Gestapo. Geheime State Polizie (Secret state police), terror of those creatures “black dressed SS men” sent thousands of Czech men, women and children to the concentration camps and killed there 400,000 mostly educated Czechs.
MUSIC AND THE
CZECHS IN
By Dr. Josef Cada
At a time when the recreation of so
many
of us demands the services
of others and when we choose to be onlookers rather than
performers, the manner of passingsatisfying
our leisure moments before the advent of the stereo or television seems like a
page torn out of a book on the Baroque Era.
With each passing day we tend to
function more and more as recipients rather than donors. Yet, not too long ago, there was a time time was
when the more active members of every Czech family engaged in some
recreational physical exercise or, when and if
they were artistically inclined, they toyed as an amateur with some musical
instrument.
Most all who lived in a Czech, or
for that matter, in a central European neighborhood, will verify that most evenings
and weekends the
air of the community was filled with the sounds of music.
Singing in lay or church choral societies was quite popular. Many a church loft became not only a place to worship God through songs, but also to experience a sense of keen competition for solo parts.
Music Tto
the people immigrated from became the preferred and
effective way of communication with native Americans. It served as a means of their introduction to
the American culture of their time far more tellingly than the spoken word.
DVORAK DIRECTED THE BOHEMIAN DAY
Czechs, even as
late as the 1920’s, recalled with misty eyes the
“Bohemian Day” of , aAt
the World’s Columbian Exposition, when their
already renowned countryman, Antonin Dvorak, directed a huge all Czech-American
choir and orchestra in his works at the Festival Hall and assisted with similar
success at the “Russian Day” of the World’s Fair.
Productions such as the one gracing
the “Bohemian Day”, which according to some sources drew the second largest
attendance of the Exposition, were not exceedingly difficult undertakings for the Czech
communities. STheir singing
societies were established in all larger Czech communities. in
addition foundedstood at the cradle of Czech-American
dramatic clubs and the gymnastic groups known as the Sokols.
IN 1900, FOURTEEN SINGING GROUPS IN
While the life of individual choirs
can be traced through only such fragile and seldom preserved documentary
sources as concert programs, it is still feasible to assume infer the
nature of their development and function from such prototypes as the singing
societies of
In 1900 there were fourteen singing
clubs in the a long and fruitful existences. One was the still functioning Lyra,
(Lyre), the other the Cesko-Delnicky Pevecky Sbor (Bohemian Workman’s Singing
Society), established in 1870 and 1890 respectively. In 1879, the Lyra
added to its ranks a women’s
auxiliary, known as the Lada (Harmony).
On May l, 1887, together with other Czech choirs, it produced the
monumental and then recently written “Stabat Mater”, for which Antonin Dvorak
received an honorary doctor’s degree at Cambridge University.
In 1895 the Lyra marked its
twenty-fifth anniversary by establishing a union of Chicago Czech choirs.
This
mademaking possible annual musical festivities
in the manner of German-American singing societies. The union presented two such festivals in
1898 and 1900 at the matter of relating the Czechs to
the city’s cultural life. Its guests
were distinguished musical and public figures.
BOHEMIAN WORKMEN’S SINGING SOCIETY
A meeting of labor organizations
held in upon to establishment of the Cesko-Delnicky Pevecky Sbor
or the Bohemian Workmen’s Singing Society as it was publicly known.
In nature and range of activity the
labor Society equaled the efforts of the Lyra.
Beside the usual public performances expected of it, it also sponsored
notable musical events. In June of 1903,
for example, it presented and accompanied Ruzena Maturova, the principal
soprano of conducted at the St. Louis Exposition
of 1904 and at the Bohemian Night of the
AFTER WORLD WAR ONE
After World War One, as a foretoken
of the dusk which would soon was to gather
over so many facets of ethnic-American life, the Workmen’s Singing Society
joined ranks with the Lyra to form the Bohemian Workmen Singing Society
Lyra. This new group also became a
principal member of the Czechoslovak Choral Association, already
formed during World War One, of several men’s male
and women’s choirs in
Like the dramatic societies of the same periodwhose contemporaries they
were, the singing circles raised the cultural sights of the Czechs
and created respect for their community in the eyes of the American people. e Even today [1980] the
Bohemian Workmen Singing Society Lyra carries on. Its voices, however, are no longer those of
enthused immigrants from one-time
Church choirs, though limitedrestricted in
their public activity, haves also
played a part in Czecho-American
cultural life. As early as 1876 the
periodical “Hlas” of the Czechs
learned to sing better they would will
then also become better Christians.
Czech-American Catholic church history records a long list of clergy who
insisted on excellence of performance in liturgical music. Some, like Fr. Bohumil Mateju of the
Redemptorists in singers,
were also amateur composers and raised their choirs to high degrees of musical
ability. The faithful themselves became
sensitive to the <