Pavel Bořkovec

Pavel Bořkovec (Prague, 1894 – Prague, 1972) was one of the most important Czech composers of the interwar period and the two decades following the Second World War. His output sits between the late Romanticism of his early years and the neoclassicism he adopted later, and his music maintained a steady presence in the musical life of his country.

He studied philosophy at Charles University in Prague, but interrupted his studies when he was called up for military service during the First World War. After returning, he trained in composition with J. B. Foerster and Jaroslav Křička, and between 1925 and 1927 he attended the masterclass at the Prague Conservatory led by Suk. His early compositions, of a late-Romantic orientation, such as the symphonic poem Stmívání (1920) and his string quartets, were well received by both audiences and critics. Towards the end of the 1920s he became interested in contemporary trends and joined the Mánes Music Group in Prague, alongside figures such as Martinů, which brought him closer to European neoclassicism.

After the war he taught composition at the Academy of Music Arts in Prague from 1946 to 1964, where he trained many distinguished composers. His mature works include the ballet Krysař (1939), the Nonet (1940), the Concerto grosso (1941) and the opera Paleček (1947). In the post-war period he sought greater expressive intensity in works such as String Quintet No. 5 (1961), the Sinfonietta in uno movimento (1963–1964) and Silentium turbatum (1965).

His legacy lies in a style of concise forms, combined with expressive lyricism and a dramatic use of timbre. Although in the 1930s he was regarded, together with Hába, as an innovator, his work is now understood as a bridge between the Czech tradition and the neoclassical tendencies of his time.