Kaprálová, Vitezslava
Kaprálová, Vitězslava
Kaprálová, Vitězslava, Czech composer, daughter of Václav Kaprá b. Brunn, Jan. 24, 1915; d. Montpellier, June 16, 1940. She received her early education from her father, then studied with Petrželka (composition) and Chalabala (conducting) at the Brno Cons. (1930–35); subsequently took master classes with Novák (composition) and Talich (conducting) at the Prague Cons. (1935–37). In 1937 she received a scholarship to Paris, where she took lessons in conducting with Munch and composition with Martinů. She appeared as a guest conductor with the BBC Sym. Orch. at the ISCM Festival in London in 1938. She returned to France in 1939, her promising career being cut tragically short by miliary tuberculosis.
Works
orch.:Suite en miniature (1932–35); Piano Concerto (Brno, June 17, 1935); Military Sinfonietta (Prague, Nov. 26, 1937); Suita rustica (Brno, April 16, 1939); Partita for Piano and Strings (Brno, Nov. 12, 1941); Christmas Prelude for Chamber Orch. (1939); Concertino for Violin, Clarinet, and Orch. (1940; unfinished). chamber:Legenda a Burleska for Violin and Piano (1932); String Quartet (1936); 2 Ritournelles for Cello and Piano (1940). Piano: Sonata appassionata (1933); 6 Variations on the Bells of the Church of Saint Etienne in Paris (1938).
Bibliography
J. Macek, V. K. (Prague, 1958).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire