In 1735 – 1736 J. D. Zelenka had the chance to write and present two passion oratorios. Gesu al Calvario was followed by the oratorio I penitenti al sepolcro del redentore, performed on Good Friday, the 30th of March in 1736. The work is a profound exploration of characters – Mary Magdalen (Maddalena), King David (Davide) and the Apostle Peter (Pietro) - who meet at the sepulchre of the Saviour and meditate on the message of Christ´s sacrifice.

The passing away of Vítězslava Kaprálová´s beloved writer, the death of Karel Čapek. An author whom Kaprálová read and loved, and whose struggle for truth deeply affected her own artistic existence, emotionally as well as intellectually. There was Vítězslav Nezval’s beautiful poetic obituary. And Kaprálová had been considering to write a melodrama. Enchanted by the text, she transformed Nezval’s poetry directly after the premiere of the Elegy into a profound, agonizing, deeply personal exclamation: into her own brave account of her relationship with Čapek, the Czech language, the Czech land, the Czech destiny. The composition was performed in French translation at the Czech embassy in Paris; again, the piano part was played by the author. After the Paris premiere, Vítězslava Kaprálová left a brief note in the score: “The ending was very nice…”

Inspired by the poem The Sleeper in the Valley by Jean Arthur Rimbaud in Vítězslav Nezval’s translation, the homonymic composition came to life in 1997. Having read the poem, I was impressed by the author’s ability to depict the contrast between the peaceful life (the idyllic setting, the cosy womb of nature, the soldier’s restful slumber), and the violent death (the red holes in his side). I tried to transform this contrast into the instrumentation of my piece – the violas represent life, the guitars symbolize death.

The four-movement composition entitled Curatio hypochondrii (a hypochondriac’s treatment) for solo bassoon is the result of my cooperation with the bassoonist Václav Vonášek in 2010. Our original concept was that of a kind of a sound lab that would search for all kinds of sounds that the instrument is capable of making when in the hands of a creative artist. The ultimate aim of our cooperation was a purposeful integration of such effects into a natural flow of music. The piece contains richly articulated tones, multiphonics, bisbigliandos, glissandos and other techniques that are becoming ever more frequent in present-day scores.

The symphonic piece the American Overture was written towards the end of the year 1996. Commissioned by the conductor Paul Freeman, it was premiered by this very conductor first with the Czech National Symphonic Orchestra in Prague, and later with Chicago Sinfonietta in an orchestral concert Chicago.