Nejedlý, Vít
Nejedlý, Vít
Nejedlý, Vít, Czech composer, conductor, and musicologist, son of Zdeněk Nejedly; b. Prague, June 22, 1912; d. Dukla, Slovakia, Jan. 1, 1945. He was a student of Svëceny and Jeremias (composition) and Talich (conducting) at the Charles Univ. in Prague, obtaining his Ph.D. in musicology in 1936. From 1936 to 1938 he was a répétiteur and conductor at the Olomouc Theater. After the Nazi occupation of his homeland in 1939, he fled to the Soviet Union and served as an ed. of Czech programs for Radio Moscow’s foreign broadcasts. In 1943 he joined the Czech contingent of the Red Army.
Works
dramatic:The Dying, melodrama (1933); Tkalci (The Weavers), opera (1938; unfinished; completed by J. Hanus; Plzen, May 7, 1961). orch.: 3 syms.: No. 1 (1931), No. 2, Bidy a smrti (Poverty and Death, 1934), and No. 3, Spanëlska (Spanish, 1937–38); Dawn, overture (1932); Commemoration (1933); Sinfonietta (1937); Dramatic Overture (1940); Popular Suite (1940); military marches. chamber:2 Compositions for Wind Quintet (1934); 2 Compositions for Nonet (1934); Small Suite for Violin and Piano (1935); String Quartet (1937); Fantasy for Piano (1937); Concertino for Nonet (1940). vocal: 2 cantatas: Den (The Day; 1935) and To You-the Red Army (1943); choruses; songs.
Bibliography
J. Plavec, Vzpominky na Vita Nejedlého (Memories of V. N.; Prague, 1948); J. Jiránek, V. N. (Prague, 1959).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire