Jaroslav Křička

A Czech composer, choirmaster, and pedagogue of Moravian origin, Jaroslav Křička, having finished his grammar school studies (1892–1900) in Havlíčkův Brod (Německý Brod – or “German Ford” – at that time), studied the Prague Conservatory in the years 1902 to 1905 under Knittl and Stecker.

Following his last scholarship in Berlin in 1905 to 1906, he accepted the position of music teacher in Dněpropetrovk in the Ukraine (1906–1909), where he taught theoretical subjects, and where he also founded an orchestra with which he performed Smetana’s and Dvořák’s works. Here he was under a strong influence of Russian music, and became friends among others with Glazunov and Tanějev. He also contributed with texts on Russian music to the magazine Hudební rozhledy, and tried to promote Czech music in Russian music magazines.

In 1909 he settled down in Prague to become the choirmaster of the Vinohrady Hlahol choir (1909–1911), and later the Prague Hlahol (1911–1920); with both the choirs, Křička performed works by young contemporary authors. After he had left the Prague Hlahol, he and his student Jaroslav Řídký were appointed artistic leaders of the Philharmonic Choir, which was a part of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (1922–1930); from time to time Křička conducted the whole orchestra.

In 1919 he started teaching at the Prague Conservatory, and from 1942 to 1945, in the years of the German occupation, he held the position of the rector there. After 1945 he devoted himself entirely to composition. As an artist he was strongly influenced by Novák and Suk.

His early compositions betray the influence of Russian music (Korsakov, Mussorgskij), e.g.: the song cycle The Northern Nights (Severní noci, 1910) or Three Fables for soprano and piano (1917). In his songs and pieces for children’s choirs and also in the first Czech children’s opera Ogaři (1918) he showed an ability to appeal to children’s souls. Křička is the author of two other operas, namely Hypolita (1916) and The White Man, or These Are No Good Times for Ghosts (Bílý pán aneb těžko se dnes duchům straší, 1929). After the year 1945 he composed several operettas (The Czech Paganini, or The Nightingale and Chopin (Český Paganini aneb Slavík a Chopin); Polka Victorious (Polka vítězí); Circus Humberto).

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