Jarmil Burghauser

Burghauser, a composer and musicologist, started to study composition systematically as early as at the age of twelve, at first under Jaroslav Křička and from 1937 under Otakar Jeremiáš.

In 1944 he graduated from the Prague Conservatory where he had studied conducting under Metod Doležil and Pavel Dědeček. In 1946 he completed his studies at the Master School of the Prague Conservatory under Václav Talich. He also studied musicology and psychology at the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University, and, as Otakar Šourek’s student, he gradually became a prominent expert on Antonín Dvořák’s work.

From 1946 to 1953, having finished his studies, he was employed as an instructor at the Faculty of Performing Arts, and became a choirmaster and conductor at the National Theatre. Burghauser was also a co-author, together with P. Eben, of the study guide of Reading and Playing Scores (Čtení a hra partitur, 1960).

As a composer he passed through a Neo-Classical phase, but he utilized the techniques of New Music as well. He used the term “harmonious serialism” to speak about his compositional technique. Apart from his extensive output within the genre of concert music and musical drama, he also composed incidental and film music.

His scientific endeavours were focused mainly on the legacy of Dvořák, Fibich and Janáček. In 1960 he published the Thematic Catalogue of Antonín Dvořák’s work; in 1979 Burghauser together with M. Šolc laid down the editorial principles of publishing Janáček’s compositions. Burghauser’s lifelong interest in Dvořák’s output resulted in several various transcriptions of the latter’s piano pieces.

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