Czech choral music after the Second World War

Abstract

The study overviews the most important choral compositions created in the Czech lands after 1945. In the introduction, it characterizes the most important milestones in the country’s development after the end of the Second World War, especially the impact of the communists and their ideology on art, the influence of avant-garde techniques of the so-called New Music, which came mainly from Germany and Poland, and the ideological relaxation after the fall of the communist dictatorship in 1989. The survey of the choral pieces is divided according to themes into sacred, inspired by folklore, ancient and medieval literature, mainly in Latin. A brief compositional analysis is also given for some of the pieces. The study does not focus on compositions set to the verses of Czech poets nor on the vibrant field of choral pieces for children, which could be the subject of another study.