František Domažlický

He started his music career as an amateur multi-instrumentalist – a violin, trumpet, and accordion player. As an author he initially focused mainly on popular music, and in 1935 he was even awarded first prize in a best tramp song competition.

The Second World War interrupted his career; he was imprisoned in Terezín and transported to several other concentration camps, so that he was able to finish his musical education only after the war. He studied violin and composition at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts where he was tutored by the violinist František Daniel and the composers Jaroslav Řídký and Emil Hlobil.

In 1960 he graduated with his Symphony for grand orchestra. From 1950 on he worked as a violinist and violist with several orchestras. Most notably, he was a member of the Film Symphony Orchestra for fifteen years. One of the characteristic features of Domažlický’s musical speech is its loose tonality; melodic and rhythmical structures are always developed within a transparent form.

Apart from his orchestral works, there are other significant parts of Domažlický’s output: particularly his solo concertos (e.g. for oboe 1958, for violin 1961, for trombone 1964, for viola 1966, for French horn 1971, for tuba 1983, for double-bass 1983), but also chamber and vocal pieces.

For a performer, František Domažlický’s music is always rewarding as concert repertoire, because the means of expression and technical potential of particular instruments are always taken into consideration. Domažlický wrote only one programme composition, “Knight d’Artagnan’s Springtime” (Jaro rytíře d´Artagnana), a symphonic piece for violoncello and orchestra that recounts several episodes from Dumas’ novel The Three Musketeers.

Titles for sale:
Concertino per cornamusa in Es ed orchestra, Op. 76
Concerto for Tuba and Strings, Op. 53
Concerto for Tuba and Strings, Op. 53 / piano score
Czech Songs for Three Female Voices, or Female or Children's Choir, and String Quartet, Op. 17
Scherzo for Tuba and Piano, Op. 77
Sonata per trombone e pianoforte, Op. 58
Sonatina for Tuba and Piano

Titles for hire - see Complete catalogue