Kopelent Marek, *28 April 1932 Prague, †12 March 2023, Czech composer. He studied composition in 1951–55 at the Akademie Musických Uměni in Prague under the supervision of J. Řidke. In 1956–71, he was an editor and lecturer of contemporary music at the Supraphon publishing house in Prague. He achieved European fame with his String Quartet No. 3, composed in 1963. In 1965–68, he was a member of the group “New Music,” and in 1965–72 artistic director of the ensemble Musica Viva Pragensis. From 1977, he worked as a tutor at the primary music school in Prague. Kopelent’s compositions are performed at all major music festivals in Europe (in Donaueschingen, Royan, La Rochelle, Witten, Venice, Warsaw Autumn, Prague Spring, etc.). As a well-known composer, Kopelent was often invited to serve on the jury of composition competitions and international festivals.
In 1969, he received a DAAD scholarship as part of the Berliner Künstlerprogramm. After his return, as part of the so-called “normalization,” i.e. the tightening of the propaganda and censorship course in Czechoslovakia, he was – as a supporter of political changes – dismissed from his job at the publishing house and removed from the Czech Composers’ Union, which meant a ban on performing his music. The Musica Viva Pragensis ensemble was banned from further activity. Deprived of the opportunity to earn a living, Kopelent began working as a tutor in the dance department of the music school in 1976–91. In 1984, he was a member of the Kazimierz Serocki composition competition in Warsaw, and in 1986 a lecturer at the International Courses for Young Composers in Kazimierz Dolny. After the political changes in 1989, he was a music expert in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic for a short time. In 1991, he became a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He was also a representative of the Czech section of the ISCM. He also lectured at the International Summer Composition Courses in Český Krumlov. In 1991, he received the French order “Chevalier des arts et des lettres,” in 1999 the Czech Classic Award 1999, in 2001 the German Herder Award, in 2003 the State Award of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, and in 2012, he received the Czech Medal of Merit, first class.
The main current of Kopelent’s work, associated with experiences of the 1960s, is characterised by linearism and counterpoint of colours. The plane nature combined with the tendency to treat music contemplatively is clearly visible in Rozjimaní, Sonata “Veil of Veronica,” Black and White Tears or in the 2nd movement of the Symphony. Kopelent compensates for the slowed course of sound events and the dispersion of matter with a careful selection of harmonic and formal means. Kopelent’s refined colour imagination is combined with a strong drive for the plasticity of the course of music and the perceptibility of form. In the last quarter of a century, Kopelent’s work saw the emergence of elements of a synthesis of his own language with modernist experiences, as well as a tendency to use a limited number of intervals.
Literature: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, T. Volume 3 Haar–Levi, New York: Schirmer Books 2001, p. 1934; The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1996, p. 460; informace.rozhlas.cz. [access: 02.05.2021]; Oldřich Pukl-Jaromír Havlík. The New Grove. Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition ed. S. Sadie, vol. 13, Macmillan Publishers Limited, London 2001, pp. 791–792.
Instrumental:
for orchestra:
Rozjimání for chamber orchestra, 1966
Sváry (Accords et désaccords) for 12 soloists and orchestra, 1968
Appassionato for piano and orchestra, 1970
Hráthy for tenor saxophone and orchestra, 1974–75
Libá hudba s lidovým motivem for dulcimer and orchestra, 1978
Symphony, 1982–83
Concertino for English horn and chamber orchestra, 1984
Pozdravení for orchestra, 1984
Musique concertante for cello solo, 12 cellos and orchestra, 1991
ARRIÍJAh for orchestra, 1996
chamber:
String Quartet No. 1, 1954
String Quartet No. 2, 1955
Réflexe for flute, violin, viola and cello, 1962
String Quartet No. 3, 1963, performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival 1964
Canto intimo for flute and vibraphone, 1964
Hudba pro 5 for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, viola and piano, 1964
Nonet “Pocta V. Holanovi”, 1967
String Quartet No. 4, 1968, performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival 1973
Zátiší for chamber ensemble, 1968
Intimissimo for chamber ensemble, 1971
Musique piquante for violin and dulcimer and prepared piano, 1971
A Few Minutes with an Oboist. Concerto galante for oboe and chamber ensemble, 1972
Quintet for brass instruments, 1972
Před přichodem roztomilých katů aneb Trojí klanení naději, rondo for 5 percussions, 1973
Sonata “Veroničina rouška” for 11 string instruments, 1973, performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival 1974
Ťukáta for harp, harpsichord and dulcimer or guitar, 1974
Triste e consolante for quintet of old and new wind instruments, 1977
Toccata for viola and piano, 1978
String Quartet No. 5, 1980
Êtres fins en mouvement for 6 percussions, 1987
for instrument solo:
Alleluja for organ, 1967
Bijoux de Bohème for harpsichord, also version for flute, harpsichord and vibraphone, 1967
Ballad for piano, 1976
Capriccio for trumpet, 1976
Jitřní Chvalozpěv for organ, 1978
Vocal and vocal-instrumental:
Syllabes mouvementées for chamber choir, 1972
Vacillat pes meus for choir a cappella, 1973, performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival 1979
Svítání for large children’s choir, 1975
Nénie s flétnou for flute, 9 female voices and chamber ensemble, 1961
Chléb a ptáci, cantata for alto, reciting voice, mixed choir and orchestra, 1964
Matka for flute and mixed choir, 1964, performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival 1971
Modlitba kamene for reciting voice, 2 chamber mixed choirs, 3 gang, tom-tom, words by V. Holan, 1967
Snéhah for soprano, jazz alto (from tape) and chamber ensemble, 1967
Žaloby for 2 chamber mixed choirs, trumpet and percussion ad libitum, 1969
Bludný hlas for an actress, chamber ensemble, tape, films and lights ad libitum, 1970
Black and White Tears for soprano and tape (or accordion) ad libitum, 1972
Laudatio pacis, oratory for reciting voice, 4 solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra, with P.-H. Dittrich and S. Gubajdulina, words by J.A. Komenský, 1975
Il Canto degli Augei, aria for soprano and orchestra, 1978
Nářek ženy, melodrama for an actress, septet of wind instruments, 14 female voices and small children’s choir, words by the composer and M. Prochaźková, 1980
Legenda De Passione St. Adalberti martyri for mixed choir, reciter and orchestra, 1981, performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival 1981
Agnus Dei for soprano and chamber ensemble, to texts by M. Luter, 1983
Zjitřený zpěv for baritone and quintet of wind instruments, lyrics by J. Hora, 1983
Messaggio della povertà for soprano, baritone, children’s choir, choir and orchestra, 1988
Holanovská reminiscence for mezzo-soprano, 2 reciting voices, clarinet, trombone and piano, 1995
Cantus de dilectione filiarum Dei for baritone solo, 5 sopranos and 3 trombones, 1998
Scenic:
Musica, singspiel for soprano, 2 actors, flute, oboe and harpsichord, 1979
