Jindřich Feld

Jindřich Feld started his composition studies at the Prague Conservatory under Emil Hlobil. In 1952 he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts where he had studied composition with Jaroslav Řídký, and he also received his doctoral degree in musicology, aesthetics and philosophy at Charles University in Prague. Apart from his extensive compositional output, he also taught both at the Prague Conservatory (1972 to 1986), and at several schools around the world (Denmark, England, France, Australia, Japan, etc.). Between 1990 and 1992 he assumed the position of music editor-in-chief at the Czechoslovak Radio.

Feld’s singular style draws on the tradition of both European and Czech music. Initially inspired, among others, by such artists as Bohuslav Martinů, in the 1960’s he started to absorb the influence of modern compositional techniques (aleatorics, serial music, dodecaphony). He also gradually developed his sense for tectonics and proportional balance of his music that is rich both on emotionally charged moments and on typically Feldian pulsating virtuoso passages. All this was always done with regard to compositional intention on the one hand, and the performing artist’s enthusiasm on the other. Feld’s music is therefore always based on a thorough knowledge of the potential of the individual instruments.

Throughout his life, he always remained up-to-date with the latest tendencies within the developments of North-American and European music. From the 1950’s on his own compositions were more and more regularly performed and published (Leduc, Billaudot, Bärenreiter, etc.) in many European centres.

His most significant pieces of this period include: Concerto for Orchestra (1951), Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1958), Concerto for Flute and orchestra (1954), the solo part of which was premiered by the prominent French flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922 to 2000). Among his most successful late works are, above all, his Symphony No. 3 “Fin de siècle” for symphonic orchestra (1998) that was followed in 2001 by Sinfonietta “Pour les temps d’harmonie”, commissioned by the French Radio. As for his vocal works, the cantata-oratorio “Cosmas’ Czech Chronicle” (“COSMAE CHRONICA BOEMORUM”, 1988) stands out as the most consequential and the most extensive. However, his numerous minor compositions, including various chamber pieces, his regularly performed instructive music suitable for elementary music schools or his vocal pieces for children’s choirs, should not be neglected, either.

Titles for hire - see Complete catalogue               

Titles for sale:
4 Moravian Christmas Songs for a small instrumental ensemble