Czech classical music
lAntonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
l
lMany of his works  show the influence of Czech folk music, both in terms of elements such as
rhythms and melody – Slavonic dances
l
l9 symphonies – the most famous - From the New World
l
lDvořák also composed operas – Rusalka
l
lChamber music – string quartets, songs, choral music and piano music
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3BpQFhsd0ik/maxresdefault.jpg

Bedřich Smetana
l(1824-1884) -was a composer - a musical style connected with folk music
lthe father of Czech music
lInternationally he is best known for his operaThe Bartered Bride
lthe symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Fatherland") - history, legends and landscape of the composer's
native land.
lVLTAVA

http://www.hluchak.cz/%7Ekuklova1/bedrich.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI8iTETiSqU


Czech national anthem
l1834 – comedy Fidlovačka
l
lAfter 1918 – the second part
l
lA Slovak song - Nad Tatrou sa blýska
l
lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0YavuZe_DQ
l
lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_Cl5fRPIJc

Karel Čapek
lone of the most influential writers of the 20th century
l
lHe introduced and made popular the frequently used international word robot which first appeared
in his play RUR Rossum´s Universal Robots in 1921
l
l Many of his works discuss ethical and other aspects of revolutionary inventions  in the first
half of 20th century – mass production, atomic weapon
http://www.luvs.cz/uploads/pics/Capek_Karel.jpg

Jaroslav Hašek
lwas a humorist, journalist and satirist best known for his novel The Good Soldier Švejk
l
l- collection of humorous incidents about a soldier in the 1st World War
ltranslated into sixty languages
l
lHe also  wrote some 1,500 short stories

Josef Škvorecký
lCzechoslovakian-born Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist, poet, screenwriter, critic,
translator, and editor
lTwo cultures – Czechoslovakia and Canada – critisism- the author and the books were banned
l
lŠkvorecký left Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring of 1968, assisted his wife, writer Zdena
Salivarova, in managing 68 Publishers, a publication house devoted to the work of Czech writers in
exile
l
l
l

lThe most famous novel
l
lOstře sledované vlaky -Closely Watched Trains
l
lTopic of the WW2
l
lFilm based on the story – awarded Oscar
l-director M. Forman