Marta Jiráčková facts for kids

Marta Jiráčková (born March 22, 1932) is a talented composer from the Czech Republic. She writes many different kinds of music, including pieces for orchestras, small groups of instruments, and even ballets.

About Marta Jiráčková

Marta Jiráčková was born in Kladno. She studied music at the Prague Conservatory, which is a famous music school. After finishing her studies in 1959, she started working at Czechoslovak Radio as a music editor. This meant she helped prepare music for radio broadcasts.

She continued to learn about harmony and composition with a teacher named Alois Hába from 1962 to 1964. Marta took a break from composing when she married a conductor named Václav Jiráček. Sadly, after her husband passed away in an accident, she returned to studying and creating music in the 1970s. She studied in Brno with teachers like Ctirad Kohoutek and Alois Piňos at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Her composition called Loď bláznů (which means The Ship of Fools) won an important award, the 1992 Prize of the Czech Music Fund.

Her Musical Works

Marta Jiráčková has written more than forty musical pieces. Her works include music for singers, small groups of instruments (chamber music), large orchestras (symphonies), ballets, and even music for radio and television shows. Here are some examples of her different types of music:

Orchestral Music

These are pieces written for a large group of instruments, like a symphony orchestra.

• Sláva Vorlová's Confession, a symphonic sketch with a solo trumpet and a soprano singer. Op. 8 (1973)
• Nanda Devi, her first Symphony, which includes children's and women's choirs and tower bells. Op. 25 (1979)
• The Butterfly Effect, a piece for a solo cello, string orchestra, and percussion instruments. Op. 32 (1984)
• Silbo, her second Symphony for a large orchestra, with a special part for a children's choir. Op. 34 (1986–87)

Chamber Music

Chamber music is written for a small group of instruments, usually one player per part.

• Four Preludes, an Interlude and a Postlude for piano. Op. 5 (1972–73)
• Variations on a Borrowed Theme, for a small group of instruments. Op. 14 (1975)
• The Blankenburg Fugue, for a string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello). Op. 33 (1985)
• Imago vitae, a suite for organ. Op. 36 (1989)
• Dodekaria I, a sonata for violin and piano. Op. 38 (1990)
• Die Warheit über Sancho Panza (The Truth About Sancho Panza), for a narrator, flute, bassoon, cello, and percussion. Op. 48 (1993)

Vocal Music

These compositions are written for singers, sometimes with instruments.

• Lokh Geet, a group of pieces for female choirs. Op.2 (1972)
• Just So, five duets for a soprano singer and a flute, using text by J. Prévert. Op. 3 (1972)
• Eight Wonders of the World, eight scenes for voices, harp, and percussion. Op. 18 (1976)
• Svatý Václave (Saint Wenceslas), a piece for soprano, viola, and piano, or for mezzo-soprano and organ. Op. 39 (1991)
• There you go, a fresco for soprano, a speaker, and a piano trio, using words by the New Zealand poet David Howard. Op. 59 (2007)

Electroacoustic Music

This type of music uses electronic sounds or recordings.

• Lullaby, a musical image created with synthetic sounds for radio. Op. 23a (1978)
• Loď bláznů (The Ship of Fools), ballet music inspired by the painter Hieronymus Bosch. Op. 40 (1991)
• Bees and the Sunflower for flute and tape recording. Op. 44 (1992)
• Five Times a Woman, a ballet piece for a female voice and a synthesizer. Op. 45 (1992)