Kalaš, Julius

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Kalaš, Julius

Kalaš, Julius, Czech composer; b. Prague, Aug. 18, 1902; d. there, May 12, 1967. He studied composition with Foerster and Kŕička at the Prague Cons. (1921-24), then attended Suk’s master classes there (1924-28). He was pianist and artistic director of the satirical male sextet the Teachers of Gotham (1925-53), for which he wrote numerous witty ballads and songs. He was a prof. in the film dept. of the Prague Academy of Musical Arts from 1948; was its dean (1949-50) and vice-dean (1955-57).He wrote 6 operas, the most notable being Nepokořenĺ (The Proud Ones; 1960), 6 operettas, including the popular Mlynarkárka Granady (The Miller’s Wife of Granada; 1954), 2 ballets, Cello Concerto (1949), Viola Concerto (1950), cantatas, chamber music, and film scores.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire