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Vitezslava Kapralova as a Muse: The art she inspired. Kapralova's charismatic personality and her remarkable music fascinated artists during her lifetime and continue to fascinate artists today. For some, it is her music; for others, it is her life story; but as a true muse, Kapralova has captured imagination of not only her fellow musicians but also writers and even visual artists. Here are some of the works of art that she inspired:

In chronological order[1]

Vaclav Kapral. Berceuses de printemps [1916]; Two Reminiscences [1940]; Premonition [June 1940]; "Milodejne kviti" for two voices and piano [1942]
Bohuslav Martinu. Tre ricercari [1938];[2] String Quartet No. 5 [1938]; Fenêtre sur le jardin [1938]; Double Concerto [1938]; Conte [1939]; Bergerettes [1939]; Cello Sonata No. 1 [1939]; Czech Madrigals [1939]; Adagio [1957] [3]
Miroslav Barvik. Piano Trio "In the memory of V. Kapralova" [1940]
Miroslav Barvik, Milan Harasta, Gernot Kasik et al. Cycle "In the memory of V. Kapralova" [Autumn 1940][4]
Jiri Mucha. Most (novel) [1943]; Studene slunce (novel-autobiography) [1968]; Podivne lasky (novel-autobiography) [1989]
Milos Sokola. Variazioni sul tema di Vitezslava Kapralova per grande orchestra. 1952
Lenka Vojtiskova. Posledni dny Vitezky Kapralove. Short story. 1963
Jana Hlavova. Vitezka Kapralova. Poem. 1963
Pavel Blatny. Strange Loves (Dramatic Scenes) [1990]; Letter. A romantic monologue for violin and piano, on a theme of a letter of Vitezslava Kapralova [2003?]
Jindrich Uher. Ona a Martinu. Novel-biography. 1995
Katerina Kraftova. Chaloupka for voice and piano. October 2002[5]
Katerina Ruzickova. Life Attitudes for Piano and Strings. 2002[6]
Wolfgang Mastnak. Klangmomente für klavier solo nach motiven von Vitezslava Kapralova. 2002(?)
Daniela Kosinova. Omnia vincit amor, for lower voice and string quartet. 2003
Miroslav Kubovy. Cyklus "Vyhrezle hlavy." Painting. 2003
Renate Moran. "Malerei zur musik von Vitezslava Kapralova." Painting. 2004
Jaroslav Sveceny. Skladba pro solove housle na motiv Vitezslavy Kapralove | Composition for solo violin on a motif of V. Kapralova. 2004(?)
Robert Gurdonark. Kapralova's Escape. Experimental electronics. 2005
Simon Mawer. The Glass Room. New York: Other Press, 2009[7]


Notes:
[1] This list focuses on art works; and, therefore, it includes neither analytical articles nor popular texts. In terms of literary works, only poetry, fiction or partial fiction have been included here.
[2] The "Julietta motive," (from his opera Julietta), which for Martinu became closely associated with Kapralova, appears in a number of Martinu's compositions that include but are not limited to: String Quartet No. 5 [1938], Fenêtre sur le jardin [1938], Double Concerto [1938], Concertino for Piano and Orchestra [1938]; Fantasy and Toccata [1940]; Mazurka [1941]; Dumka [1941]; Piano Quartet [1942]; Symphony No. 1 [1942]; Sinfonietta La Jolla [1950]; Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola [1952]; Sonata for Violoncello, No. 3 [1952]; Symphonic Fantasies [1953]; Cantata "L'eveil des sources" [1955]; and Adagio [1957]. I am indebted to Dr. Erik Entwistle for identifying these works. For a thorough analysis of the Julietta symbolism as it appears in Martinu's, and, most interestingly, in Kapralova's music, see Dr. Entwistle's thesis (listed in the bibliography that follows). His article on the subject has been published in the Kapralova Society Newsletter 2 (Fall 2004).
[3] Martinu's dedication reads: In the memory of Vaclav Kapral and Vitulka.
[4] The authors were students of Kapral's composition class of 1940 at the Brno Conservatory. The cycle was composed as a tribute to both Kapralova and her father (the dedication reads: "In memoriam V. Kapralove, jako manifestacni vyraz souciteni a obdivu Vaclavu Kapralovi" / In the memory of V. Kapralova as a manifestation of our admiration for Vaclav Kapral and our sympathy for his great loss).
[5] The then 8-year-old pianist set her song to words of Kapralova's poem "Chaloupka / Little Cottage" from 1927.
[6] The work, originally commissioned by the Raduga Ensemble, was inspired by Kapralova's Partita, op. 20.
[7] Shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Author's Note: [...] A few non-fictional characters do make brief appearances. One such is the talented composer Vitezslava Kapralova, whose tragically short life seems emblematic of the brilliant but doomed First Republic of Czechoslovakia. I urge the reader to find out more about her, and her country.

Sources:
Bartova, Jindra. "Ach ty moje sladka, poslusna zacko..." Opus Musicum, 10 (1990): 310-314.
Barvik, Miroslav. "Nad pozustalosti Vitezslavy Kapralove." Rytmus, 2 (1945-6): 5-7.
Berkovec, Jiri. Predmluva [Foreword]. In: Milos Sokola. Variace na thema Vitezslavy Kapralove pro velky orchestr. Praha: SNKL 1960. Pp. v-vi.
Blatny, Pavel. "Jak jsem komponoval sve Podivne lasky." Opus Musicum, 1 (1996): 15-16.
Bohuslav Martinu. Bibliographical Catalogue. Prague: Panton 1990. Pp.31, 61.
Bohuslav Martinu. Selected Masterpieces. [CD booklet]. Prague: The Bohuslav Martinu Foundation, 2001. Pp. 39, 57, 63.
Corley, Simon. "L'élan vital de Martinu." ConcertoNet.com, March 2002. Available online (as of 25.5.2002) at http://www.concertonet.com/exec/review.asp?IndexReview=1543
Correspondence of Vera Bednarova to Jiri Mucha, 1988. Moravian Museum of Brno, 89.580/G3877a.
Entwistle, Erik. Martinu in Paris: A Synthesis of Musical Styles and Symbols. Page 137. A thesis. University of California, Santa Barbara, 2002.
"Erwachen Literarisches Konzert: Alexandra Berkova / Wolfgang Mastnak." Available online (as of 17.8.2002) at http://www.kulturbrueckefratres.freeservers.com/
Gurdonark, Robert. Kapralova's Escape. ccmixter.org 16 October 2005, http://ccmixter.org/media/files/gurdonark/2869 (16 October 2005).
Havelkova, Tereza. "Music is about feelings." Interview with Jitka Vlasankova and Lubomir Havlak. Czech Music, 5 (1999): 3. Available online at http://www.musica.cz/czechmusic/czm0599.htm
Hotarkova, Ivana. Vitezslava Kapralova. Dubnova preludia v kontextu klavirniho dila skladatelky. A thesis. JAMU: Brno 1993. Page 63.
Kapralova's diary, May 5, 1939. Moravian Museum of Brno (sign. G154b).
Kapusta, Jan. "Bohuslav Martinu v roce 1938." Hudebni veda, 2 (1982): 162-175.
Kubovy, Miroslav. Vyhrezle hlavy. 13 January 2003, http://www.muzeumlouny.cz/shownews.php?ln=cz&id=32&typ=cz#picture (16.10.2005).
Kundera, Ludvik. Vaclav Kapral. Brno: Blok 1968. Pp. 59-60, 92-95, 97, 158-165.
Labhart, Walter. Bohuslav Martinu: Kammermusic. [CD booklet]. Koch International, 1990.
Lebrecht, Norman. "Unsung premiere." Artsjournal.com, November 18, 2009 http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2009/11/unsung_premiere.html
Letter to Karla Hartl from Daniela Kosinova, dated July 17, 2003.
Macek, Jiri. Vitezslava Kapralova. Praha: Kniznice hudebnich rozhledu Svazu cs. skladatelu, 1958. Pp. 129-133.
Macek, Jiri and A. Serych. "Kapralova, Vitezslava." The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, p. 246.
Martinu's letter to Vitezslava Kapralova, dated 4.11(?) 1938. Moravian Museum of Brno (sign. G149).
Mauwer, Simon. The Glass Room. New York: Other Press, 2009.
Mihule, Jaroslav. Bohuslav Martinu: Profil zivota a a dila. Praha: Supraphon 1974. Page 117.
Moran, Renate. Malerei zur musik von Vitezslava Kapralova. 2004, http://www.whatisart.info/moran (December 31, 2004).
Mucha, Jiri. Studene slunce. Praha: Ceskoslovensky spisovatel, 1968.
Mucha, Jiri. Most. [3rd Edition]. Praha: Eminent 1999.
Muller, Lubomir. "Podivne lasky." Opus Musicum, 5 (1990): xxx-xxxii.
Nemcova, Alena. "Vitezslava Kapralova a Jan Novak - dva moravsti zaci Bohuslava Martinu". Opus musicum, 6 (1991): 192.
Pospisilova, Katerina. "Cesta Bohuslava Martinu k obdobi fantazii." In: Bohuslav Martinu cesky a svetovy. Collection of papers from 23rd Musicological Conference 'Janackiana'. Ostrava 3.-4.2.1999. Pp. 100-9.
Safranek, Milos. Bohuslav Martinu. His Life and Works. Allan Wingate: London 1962. Pp. 178-189.
Safranek, Milos. Divadlo Bohuslava Martinu. Editio Supraphon: Praha 1979. Pp. 83-85.
Samuel, Rhian. "Women's Music: A Twentieth-Century Perspective." In: The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers.
Settari, Olga. Klavirni dilo Vitezslavy Kapralove. Unpublished paper. Page 20.
Uher, Jindrich. Ona a Martinu. Praha: Cs. Spisovatel, 1995.
Zouhar, Zdenek. "Ceske dikce hudebni Bohuslava Martinu ve Francii." Opus Musicum, 7 (1990): 217-220.
Zouhar, Zdenek. "Madrigaly Bohuslava Martinu." In: Bohuslav Martinu cesky a svetovy. Collection of papers from 23rd Musicological Conference 'Janackiana'. Ostrava 3.-4.2.1999. Pp. 94-9.

© Karla Hartl, 1998-2009

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