Juraj Pospíšil

Juraj Pospíšil was born in Olomouc on 14 January 1931. A Slovak composer of Czech birth, his output belongs to the second half of the twentieth century and combines the Romantic legacy with influences from the music of Leoš Janáček and, later, with techniques of the serial school.

He studied composition with Petrželka at the Janáček Academy in Brno from 1950 to 1952, and then with Moyzes and Cikker at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bratislava, from 1952 to 1955. In 1955 he was appointed professor of theory at the Bratislava Conservatory, and he also taught at the Academy.

His early works recall late Romanticism, Impressionism and Janáček, whose influence can be heard in the use of Moravian folk songs, in ostinato rhythms and in the development of brief, fragmentary motifs, as in the String Sonata of 1961. In the 1960s he incorporated serial elements, at first blended with Romantic cantilena and later in a polylinear writing style, as in Glosy or Protirečenia. In the 1970s and 1980s he moderated the use of these techniques and developed a personal neo-Romantic style, evident in his symphonic frescoes and in the suite Krajinou detstva, as well as in chamber works of intimate atmosphere, such as his Second and Third String Quartets.

Among his most frequently cited works are the Trombone Concerto of 1962, the Symphony No. 2 «Hmlovina v Andromede» and several later symphonies and concertos. His legacy rests on the integration of folk tradition and Janáček with a sober modern language, which made him a significant figure in post-war Slovak music.