Burlas, Ladislav

Burlas, Ladislav, Slovak composer and musicologist; b. Trnava, April 3, 1927. He first studied music with Mikulás Schneider-Trnavsky, and then went to Bratislava to pursue training in philosophy, history, and musicology at the Comenius Univ. (1946–51). He concurrently studied composition with Alexander Moyzes at the Cons., and subsequently at the Academy of Music and Drama (1951–55). He later was awarded his C.Sc. degree (1960) and his Dr.Sc. degree (1985). From 1951 he taught in Bratislava at the Teachers’ Training Coll., the Comenius Univ., and the Academy of Music and Drama. From 1960 to 1988 he also was active with the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and from 1966 he served as senior lecturer in music theory at the Prague Academy of Music. In 1990 he became a lecturer in the faculty of philosophy in Bratislava, and was named a prof, in 1993. Among his writings are books on J.L. Bella (1953), Alexander Moyzes (1956), contemporary music theory (1978), and the theory of music education (1997). In 1968 and 1980 he won prizes of the Union of Slovak Composers, in 1985 he won the prize of the Ministry of Culture, and in 1988 he won the National Prize of the Slovak Republic.

Works

orch.: Symphonic Triptych (1957); Epitaph (1958); Bagatelles for Strings (1959); Planctus for Strings (1968); Concertino for Winds and Percussion (1971); Music for Violin and Orch. (1977); Organ Concerto (1983).chamber:A Singing Heart for String Sextet (1960); Sonatina for Solo Violin (1968); 3 string quartets (1969, 1972, 1977); Sonata Concertante for Violin (1974); Cadence for Violin (1974); Sonata for Solo Violin (1975); Poetical Music for Wind Quintet (1983).piano: Sonatina (1978); Lyrical Music (1979); To Matica slovenskâ, sonata (1988).vocal:Miners’ Cantata for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1955); Wedding Songs from Horehronie for Chorus and Orch. (1955); Metamorphoses of Beauties for Chorus and Violin (1964); The Bells for Chorus (1969); 6 Love Poems for Chorus (1975); To Meet a Human Being for Mezzo- soprano, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1984).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire