Ivana Loudová
From Unearthing The Music
Ivana Loudová (8 March 1941 – 25 July 2017[1]) was a Czech composer.
Contents
Biography
Loudová was born at Chlumec nad Cidlinou. She began learning the piano from her mother (from whom she inherited her absolute pitch) at the age of five, and at the age of six the began to learn the violin. By the age of 13, she was already creating her first compositions.
After graduating from the high school in Nový Bydžov (1958) she was accepted into the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts under Miloslav Kabeláč and Emil Hlobil.[2] After an audition, she received a scholarship by the French government to study in Paris at the Conservatoire de Paris under Oliver Messiaen and André Jolivet. At the same time she had an internship in an experimental study Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Centre Bourdan with ORTF under Pierre Shaeffer (1971). After completing her studies (1972) she devoted her time to composing as a freelancer, she cooperated with theatres, radios and the film industry and also occasionally spent her time on theoretical and educating activities.
She has written orchestral and chamber music, as well as vocal pieces and music for film/stage. She obtained an honourable mention in Mannheim for the composition Rhapsody in Black, and won at the Guido d'Arezzo” International Polyphonic Competition in Italy in 1978, 1980 and 1984. In the choral area, she wrote the Vocal Symphony in 1965 and later wrote children's choral works such as the prize-winning Little Christmas Cantata. She has also written music for American Wind Symphony Orchestra and other orchestral works. In 1992 Ivana Loudová began teaching composition on the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Prague. For her work Ivana Loudová received the Heidelberger Kunstpreis 1993 award, the award of the Ministry of culture for a contribution to the music world for the year 2015 and the award of the Protective Association 2017.
Ivana Loudová died in Prague on 25 July 2017 after a long period of illness. She was 76 years old.[1]
Works
By the end of 2014 Ivana Loudová had created over a hundred compositions. Among her most famous orchestral pieces are Spleen-Hommage à Charles Baudelaire and Choral for the orchestra, both of which became an inspiration for over 500 pieces of artwork exhibited in Munich at the Vom Ohr zum Auge exhibition (1994). Her chamber compositions Air à Due Boemi for bass clarinet and piano, Gnómai for soprano, flute and harp, Nocturne for viola and strings, Monument for organ, Veni etiam for six woodwind instruments and Planet of birds I-III using electronics are highlights.
Her book, Modern notation is still very requested and so is her interpretation. On this topic she has organised many lectures, she has taken part in international symposiums in Paris, Heidelberg, Kassel, Dresden, Fiuggi, Šamorín and elsewhere.
Orchestral Compositions
- Concerto for chamber orchestra (1962)
- Symphony No. 1 (1964)
- Symphony No. 2 for alto solo, choir and large orchestra (1965)
- Rhapsody in Black. Ballet music (1966)
- Spleen. Hommage a Charles Baudelaire (1971)
- Hymnos for wind and percussion instruments (1972)
- Chorale for orchestra (1973)
Concertante Compositions
- Concerto for percussions, organ and Wind Orchestra (1974)
- Magic Concerto for xylophone, marimba, vibraphone and wind orchestra (1976)
- Concerto breve per flauto (ossia, violino) ed orchestra da camera (1979)
- Dramatic Concerto for solo percussion and Wind Symphony Orchestra (1979)
- Luminous Voice, concerto for English horn, wind and percussion instruments (1986)
- Double Concerto for Violin, Percussion and Strings (1989)
Compositions for Solo Instruments
- Suite for solo flute (1959)
- Per tromba, five studies for trumpet
- Solo for King David, for harp (1972)
- Agamemnon, suite for percussion instruments (1973)
- Aulos for bass-clarinet (1976)
- Con umore in F per fagotto solo (1978)
- Quatro pezzi per clarinetto solo (1982)
- Tango Music for piano (1984)
- Monumento per organo solo (1984)
- Prague Imaginations for piano solo
- Canto amoroso for violoncello solo
Chamber Compositions
- Sonata for violin and piano (1960-61)
- Sonata for clarinet and piano (1963)
- String Quartet No. 1 (1964)
- Gnomai, trio for soprano, flute and harp (1970)0
- Air a Due Boemi, for bass-clarinet and piano (1972),
- Romeo and Juliet. Renaissance suite for flute, violin, viola, violoncello and harp or lute (1974),
- String Quartet No. 2 “In Memory of Bedrich Smetana” (1974-76)
- Partita in D for flute, harpsichord and strings(1975)
- Soli e tutti for flute, oboe, violin, viola, violoncello and harpsichord (1975)
- Nocturne for viola and strings (1975)
- Cadenza for violin or flute and harp (1975)
- Ballata eroica for violin and piano (1976)
- Quintetto guibiloso per ottoni (1977)
- Mattinata per clarinetto, trombone, violoncello e piano (1978)
- Musica festiva per tre trombe e tre tromboni (1980)
- Duo concertante per clarinetto basso e marimba (1982)
- Two Eclogues for flute and harp (1982)
- A Posy for Emmanuel for chamber jazz ensemble (oboe, clarinet, piano, double-bass, percussions) – In memory of C. Ph. E. Bach (1981)
- Hukvaldy Suite for string quartet (1984) – In memory of Leos Janacek
- The Sleeping Landscape (1985) for 10 brass instruments and percussions
- Trio in B Flat for violin, violoncello and piano (1986-87)
- Italian Trio for clarinet, basson and piano (1986)
- Don Giovanni’s Dream. Fantasy for Wind Octet (1989)
- Cassazione per 4 trombe,4 tromboni e tuba,(1991) CD Quatro festival international di ottoni Vicenza
- Variations on J.V.Stamic-Theme.String Quartett. (1989)
- Canto meditativo for voice + gopi,(1992)
- Sentimento del tempo for bass clarinet,piano and percussions,(1993)
- Duo meditativo for mezzosoprano and violoncello, (1994)
- Tanto Accanto for flute, violin, violoncello and cembalo,(1995)
- Funf Lieder on Ch.Morgenstern lyrics for mezzosoprano and flute
- Veni etiam (I came again) for 6 wind instruments in space,(6 oboes, ev.2ob.+ 4fl.,ev.6fl),(1996)
- Sonata Angelica for trombone and piano(1996)
- Echoes for horn and percussion,(1997)
- Duetti melancolici for 2 oboes ev.2 clar.,2 flutes…,(1997)
Vocal Compositions
- Appointment with Love. Three male choruses on words of Italian Renaissance poetry, with the accompaniment of flute and piano (1966)
- Stabat mater, male chorus a cappella (1966)
- Kurosio, dramatic fresco for solo soprano and large mixed choir (1968)
- Ego sapientia, male chorus a cappella on texts of the Book of Proverbs (1969)
- Sonetto per voci bianche a cappella (1978).
- Italian Triptych (Trittico italino) for mixed choir a cappella on Italian Renaissance poetry (1980) 1. Sonetto – 2. Benedetto sia l giorno – 3.Amor
- Looking Back for female choir a cappella on words by Josefina Hola (1981)
- Fortune. Small cantata for mixed and children’s choirs on the libretto of her own (1983)
- Little Evening Music for oboe and mixed choir (1983), text by Karel Hlavacek,
- Occhi lucenti e belli (1984) for female choir a cappella, text by Veronica Gambara
- Love…! – chamber female chorus a cappella on text by Marketa Prochazkova (1985)
- Two Voices – mixed chorus a cappella on text by Karel Hlavacek (1986)
- Life, stop for a while! – male chorus a cappella on the text by Frantisek Hrubin (1987)
- Pozde k ranu, for oboe and mixed chorus on the text by Karel Hlavacek,(1991)
- Harmonie du Soir for chamber choir a cap.,(1993)
Choral Compositions for Children
- Fly off, my tune (1961) – songs for children with the accompaniment of piano
- Riddles (1966) – songs for two voices and piano
- Mummy..- cycle of children s choruses for three voices a capp. (1966)
- The Little Prince. Children s cantata in seven tableaux for soprano and alto, a recite, children’s choir and accompaniment (1967)
- Ten Minutes’ Silence. A play for children s choir with the accompaniment of instruments on text of her own (1974)
- Little Christmas Cantata for children’s choir, trumpet and harp on texts of Vaclav Fischer (1976)
- Canonic Songs for chidren’s choir on a text of own (1977)
- Trefoil. Tree 1-2 voiced children’s choruses with the accompaniment of triangle and tambuourine on a text of her own (1981)
- Merry Counterpoints, or 3x in a different way in C Major (1981). Three 2-3 voiced children s choruses a cappella to a text of her own
- Songs on the Rose – four children’s choruses a cappella on anonymous texts from the region of Hradec Kralove (1983)
- Ditties for Lucy, for children’s choir and solo violin, text of her own (1984)
- Kobold Songs. Three 2-3 voiced children’s choruses on popular minig texts (1987)
- Greeting To the Sun for children’s choir and hidden recorders,(1996)
Instructive Compositions
- Variations for a Cat (1982) – violin solo
- Fairy-tales and Pebbles – (1984,1961)
- We play every day (1986) – seven little instructive compositions for 2-3 violins
- Music to radio plays, film music and incidental music for theatre stagings (besides others, short films The Solar System, The Universe, the staging of the play Merlin, or Waste Land in the Realistic Theatre, and others)
References
- Ve věku 76 let zemřela skladatelka Ivana Loudová (in Czech)
- Oplištilová, Iva. "Composer Ivana Loudová: "To be able to strike out even a brilliant idea if it's in the wrong place"". Czech Music Quarterly. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
- The Harvard Dictionary of Music (2003) Don Michael Randel, p. 233