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2009 A Study of Písn# z T#šínska of Petr Eben Matthew Markham

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COLLEGE OF MUSIC

A STUDY OF PÍSN Z TŠÍNSKA OF PETR EBEN

By

MATTHEW MARKHAM

A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music

Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2009

The members of the committee approve the treatise of Matthew Markham defended on May 28, 2009.

______Stanford Olsen Professor Directing Treatise

______Charles Brewer Outside Committee Member

______Lisa Ryoko Wakamiya Committee Member

______Timothy Hoekman Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members.

ii

Dedicated to Roy Delp

iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the following for their support and contribution towards the success of this project: Theodore Presser Foundation, Florida State University, Artistic and Administrative Staff of the Ameropa Solo and Chamber Music Festival, Folk Festival, librarians of the National Library of the and of the Municipal Library, historians of the Czech Music Information Centre in Prague and of the Muzeum Těšínsko, Academy of Music in Prague, Dvoák Society in London, Lisa Ryoko Wakamiya, Stanford Olsen, Timothy Hoekman, Charles Brewer, Jindrich Bajgar, Mojmír Sobotka, Adam Mohammad, Martina Bojdorá, Jakub Debef, Jan Víčár, Ivan Kusnjer, Iva Raková, Jonathan Pilkington, David Eben, Katerina Englichová, Jan Rokyta, Boleslav Slováček, Karel Janovicky, Timothy Cheek, Barbora Baronová, Graham Melville-Mason, Antonín Tučapský, Eva Vítová, Katerina Vondrovicová-Cervenková, Miloslová Fousková, Jesse Johnston, Zdenka Brodska, Dagmar Szturcová, Roman Grycz, Renata Utíkal, Marek Grycz, Halina Cymorek, Beata Suszka, Katharine Ball, Malcolm Shackelford, Edward and Kathryn Markham, Ralph Bentley, Randy Steinman, Kristin Ditlow, Dan Pardue, and the beautiful people of Těšín, especially Adam and Judith.

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures ...... vi

Abstract ...... vii

1. BIOGRAPHY ...... 1

2. EBEN’S TŠÍN PERIOD ...... 11

3. THE TŠÍN REGION ...... 18 3.1 Těšín History ...... 22 3.2 Těšín Folk Music and Culture...... 24 3.3 Těšín Dialect ...... 28

4. THE FOLKSONGS ...... 35 4.1 “Hej, koło Těšina” ...... 36 4.2 “Ten Těšinsky mostek” ...... 39 4.3 “Tam z tej strony jeźora” ...... 41 4.4 “V zelenym hajičku” ...... 43 4.5 “Dolina, dolina” ...... 47 4.6 “V neděli rano” ...... 50 4.7 “Ja věm o ptaškovi” ...... 53 4.8 “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” ...... 55 4.9 “Śvětě marny” ...... 57 4.10 “Za gorum, za vodum” ...... 60 4.11 “Paněnky se chłubjum” ...... 63

CONCLUSION ...... 67

APPENDICES

A. WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATIONS ...... 68

B. RECORDINGS OF NATIVE SPEAKERS SPEAKING THE FOLK TEXTS ...... 85

C. TŠÍN FILM DOCUMENTARY ...... 87

D. A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EBEN’S WORKS FOR SOLO VOICE ...... 88

E. APPROVAL FORMS AND CONSENT LETTERS ...... 90

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 98

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 101

v LIST OF FIGURES

3.1: Map of the Czech Republic...... 19 3.2: Map of the Czech Republic, , and ...... 20 3.3: Map of Český Tĕšín/...... 21 4.1: “Hej, koło Těšina” unpublished introduction...... 38 4.2: “Ten Těšinsky mostek” measures 25-29...... 40 4.3: “Ten Těšinsky mostek” measures 42-44...... 40 4.4: “Tam z tej strony jeźora” measures 19-26...... 43 4.5: “V zelenym hajičku” measures 1-15...... 45 4.6: “V zelenym hajičku” measures 23-24...... 46 4.7: “Dolina, dolina” measures 6, 13, 18-20, 27-28, 33-34, and 37-38 ...... 49 4.8: “Dolina, dolina” measures 44-46...... 50 4.9: “V neděli rano” measures 9-11...... 51 4.10: “V neděli rano” measures 24-30...... 52 4.11: “Ja věm o ptaškovi” measures 1-4...... 54 4.12: “Ja věm o ptaškovi” measures 44-47...... 54 4.13: “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” measures 1-9...... 56 4.14: “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” measures 10-13...... 57 4:15: “Śvětě marny” measures 1-6, 16-20, 31-32, 35-37, and 43-45...... 59 4.16: “Za gorum, za vodum” measures 1-6...... 61 4.17: “Za gorum, za vodum” measures 33-42...... 62 4.18: “Paněnky se chłubjum” measures 52-75...... 65 4.19: “Paněnky se chłubjum” measures 76-99...... 66

vi ABSTRACT

In 1952 The State Institute for Folksong in invited Czech-born Petr Eben (1929-2007) to collect and transcribe folksong in the original dialect from the Moravian-Silesian district around the town of Těšín, which straddles the Czech/Polish border. The resulting collection of 280 folksongs provides rich documentation of the spirit of the Těšín people, the regional landscape, folk culture, and Těšín’s unique regional dialect. This treatise is a study of the musical and cultural influences in the eleven songs known as Písně z Těšínska (Songs from Těšín) as arranged by Eben for voice and piano. The treatise contains biographical information about the composer, extant information about the method of the collection of the songs, historical and cultural background of the region, and detailed research into the dialect including firsthand interviews and a video diary of those interviews. The author also makes use of personal interviews with contemporaries and relatives of the composer, folklorists, music professors, school children, and teachers; as well as personal observations while on a two month journey through this region of the Czech Republic. The sections of the treatise include a general biography of Eben, a focus on Eben’s associations with the Těšín region (beginning with the 1952 study and the influence of this period in his subsequent compositions), an overview of the historic context through which the district Těšínské Slezsko (Těšín region) and its unique dialect came to be, and a specific exploration of Písně z Těšínska including consideration of text, music, and cultural references. Appendices in the electronic format will include a word-for-word translation of the texts, an audio recording of the readings of the texts by native speakers, a chronological listing of Eben’s works for solo voice and piano or chamber ensemble, and a 25-minute video documentary presenting highlights of the author’s two-month journey through the Czech Republic, supported by a grant from the Theodore Presser Foundation.

vii CHAPTER ONE

BIOGRAPHY

When Czech composer Petr Eben, born 22 January 1929, died in 2007 he had gone from being an obscure academic laboring in a second rate position to one of the Czech Republic’s leading and most revered . His compositions are universally admired, have been extensively recorded, and were performed by the composer himself and continue to be performed by others in the finest concert venues in the world. For one who began in modest circumstances, son of two schoolteachers, who then survived the invasion of by the Nazi regime, incarceration at Buchenwald, and ostracism by the subsequent Communist Soviet regime in Czechoslovakia, this is an astonishing development. Petr Eben was born in Žamberk, a town to the east of Prague, the son of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. His initial exposure to music was at home; his mother sang and played the guitar, while his father played the violin. Eben’s elder brother, who later became a doctor, was also a good musician. When Petr Eben was five years old, the family moved to the historic village Český Krumlov, a fairytale setting in southern providing day-to-day exposure to the humanist art and architecture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. As schoolteachers, Eben’s parents were anxious to procure a broad based education for their children. Eben learned both Czech and German. His parents spoke French, he was taught English and Greek at the grammar school, and Latin was a standard part of the curriculum. In spite of growing up in this environment, however, Eben describes the town as “an utter musical wilderness. It was a pretty provincial community; there were rarely concerts and we didn’t have a gramophone.”1 Among those rare musical occasions, he recalls a performance of the German tenor Julius Patzak singing Mozart and a performance by German dancer and

1 Janá Marhounová, “Czech Music in the Web of Life,” (Praha: Empatie, 1993), 221; quoted in James L. Evans, The Choral Music of Petr Eben (M.A. thesis, University College Cork, 1995), 35.

choreographer Harald Kreutzberg.2 These early impressions would emerge as later manifestations. For example, the influence of Mozart can be heard in Eben’s work for orchestra, Pražské nokturno (Prague Nocturne, 1983), which was dedicated to Mozart, and the influence of dance, in his Biblické tance (Biblical Dances, 1991) for organ and dancers. Eben’s keen musical intuition and extraordinary ability to improvise enabled him to benefit from what few resources were available. He studied harmony and counterpoint on his own and gained a certain amount of keyboard facility playing chamber music with his father on violin, his brother on cello, and himself at the piano. Because music parts were in short supply, young Eben began composing works of his own for his family to play. With the German invasion of Czechoslovakia and the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, life became increasingly difficult for the Eben family. Český Krumlov was a town in which the were in the minority to the German population, even more so as most of the Czechs had managed to get away before the invasion. Eben’s family was to be particularly targeted by the new regime because his father was Jewish. As a result of the racial persecution by the Nazi regime, the Eben family suddenly found themselves socially ostracized. This ostracization meant the Ebens could only make music at home, which lent a new intensity and significance to that activity in his life.3 Another important event in the musical development of the young composer came as a direct result of the German occupation. Compulsory military service meant that many positions in the community were left vacant, among them the position of organist at the church of St. Vitus. The curate knew that the young Eben played the piano and offered him the position as organist at the church. He accepted the position and began playing the organ at the church even though his legs could barely reach the pedals.4 In

2 Graham Melville-Mason, A Tribute to Petr Eben: To Mark His 70th Year (Burnham-on-Crouch: The Dvoák Society, 2000), 4. 3 David Eben, interview by author, 3 August 2008, Prague, Czech Republic. 4 Melville-Mason, 4.

the hours spent alone in the organ loft, he was able to explore the tonal and coloristic possibilities of the organ. “It opened up a marvelous world to me. I had always longed to hear an orchestra, but had no access to one either as player or listener and now suddenly there I was sitting at an organ console. . . . I would try all the stops in turn, enjoying the different tone colors, experimenting with various combinations, and spending hours improvising.”5 Thus came Eben’s introduction to the organ, for which he would compose many of his major works. Although the family embraced the Catholic faith, the fact that his father was a Jew meant that, in 1943, he was ostracized by friends and expelled from school. Later that year the Eben family was torn apart and put in various concentration camps. Eben and his brother were imprisoned at Buchenwald in . Here, as a teenager, he came face to face with life and death, the cruelty of mankind, as well as man’s capacity for faith and sacrifice. He remembers vividly holding the hand of his brother as they stood in the camp showers, expecting gas to engulf them, and the relief that came over them when they realized it was water coming down.6 The succeeding daily contact with death and suffering brought him an early understanding of faith and the importance of life with hope in survival. In one of his early works, the Suita balladica (Ballad Suite, 1955) for cello and piano, he reflects on this period and says of the work that “it is a remembrance of the dead in the mass graves . . . a testimony of the wonderful faith of human beings . . . faith and hope cannot be killed . . . the spirit cannot be defeated by external events.”7 It was this same philosophy, faith, and inner strength that sustained him for a further forty years of political oppression. It is a fortunate irony that these conflicts drew him to repeated meditations on mortality and an affirmation of the supremacy of God over life and death in his compositions. After the war in 1946, Eben returned to Český Krumlov where his family was reunited. He resumed his schooling by attending the Music School in Česky Budějovice where he studied the cello, piano, and organ. At this time a post-war revival of national

5 Marhounová, 37

6 Melville-Mason, 5. 7 Ibid.

culture influenced Eben to study the works of early twentieth century Czech composers Dvoák, Janáček and Martinů, many of which were inspired by folksong. This left a lasting impression on the composer who later arranged multiple works based on folk tunes. From his piano and organ studies came an easy keyboard facility and he developed into a fine accompanist fed by his interest in the Lieder composers Schubert and Brahms. As an accompanist Eben played for singers in school, marking the beginning of what would become a lifetime of collaborative experiences premiering his own works. Such collaborations extended through the turn of the new millennium when he recorded a majority of his songs with two of the Czech Republic’s most famous singers: baritone Ivan Kusnjer and mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková. In 1948 he entered the Prague Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, studying piano with František Rauch. In 1950 he began taking composition classes at the same institution under the tutelage of neo-classicist Pavel Borkovec, whom Eben credits for his sense of formal structure and eschewing the increasingly unfettered “freedoms” of much contemporary writing.8 It was a difficult time to be a student of composition because the Communist regime made it nearly impossible for anyone to study unapproved music, and it was impossible to obtain music from the west. “Suddenly we weren’t allowed to play Stravinsky or Schoenberg. These weren’t just forbidden; they were unobtainable. You couldn’t even get scores or records. There were people teaching musicology who deplored Debussy and Ravel as decadents, Janáček as an expressionist and naturalist, Martinů as a traitor, and Stravinsky as a spineless émigré.”9 After graduating from the Prague Academy in 1954, Eben was appointed Lecturer of music history at in Prague, where he remained until 1990. Although he clearly deserved promotion, it was denied him because of his refusal to join the Communist Party and his devotion to Catholicism. During this span of thirty-five years, Eben was retained at the lowest academic rank. He had been forced to make a choice between following the State’s directives and hence bettering his chances of

8 Marhounová, 39.

9 Ibid.

material well-being, or following his Catholic beliefs and putting his career and life in constant danger. Eben chose the latter and continued to compose spiritual music and use his art, along with other intelligentsia, to keep alive an underground agitation against the repressive regime by using quotations from the Catholic plainchant repertory, which went against the rules of the authorities. The atheist communists, Eben said, also tried to restrict his musical activity by forbidding organ concerts “because it was the instrument bringing spiritual ideas.” He astonished himself, and no doubt the communist authorities too, when his organ cycle Nedělní hudba (Sunday Music, 1957) became an international success.10 Eben showed in this piece his love of dramatic contrasts as a sense of conflict and resolution intended “to portray the fight between good and evil within the human heart.”11 Despite the traditional influences of his teacher and interest in plainchant and folksongs that make his compositions rather conservative, there is a distinctive 20th century musical voice threading through each composition. Although he did not follow some of his contemporaries into more extreme experiments with tonality, his sense of tonality has a tonal freedom about it; any flirtation with more modern techniques, aleatorical, serial, or atonal, has been brief. Further style characteristics include: bitonality, polytonality, chromaticism, use of tritones, rhythmic vitality, ostinati, theme and variation, repetition of motifs, sequential writing, and firm musical structure. From his experimental years in the organ loft at Český Krumlov also comes his impressive facility as an improviser, features of which find their way into his compositions, notably his three major organ works based on literary texts. Eben composed for a myriad of instruments in a variety of settings: choral, organ, solo instrumental, chamber, opera, orchestral, and oratorio. He composed or arranged more than a dozen song cycles or sets, mostly for low voice. It was the genre of art song, divided between arrangements of folksongs and original song compositions, upon which he focused during his professional studies at the Academy. Šestero piesní milostných (Six Old-time Love Songs, 1951), for voice and piano and/or harp, incorporated medieval texts

10 David Eben, interview.

11 Author unknown, “Petr Eben,” The Times, , 7 December 2007.

of various provenances, a fact that documents the composer’s multilingual capacity. This is the first set of songs he composed. The Czech, English, German, Italian, and French texts about love (mostly by anonymous authors, the exception being a poem by François Villon) signified “the eternal and universal power of love which I [he] was experiencing the same year.”12 His second set of songs, Písně k loutně (Songs for Lute, 1951), also using texts of varying languages, was written as an engagement present for his soon-to-be wife, Šárka. The third composition for solo voice, Písně z Těšínska (Songs from Těšín, 1952), whose texts and tunes come from the Těšín region, held personal significance for Eben because Šárka and her family were from that region. With a modest income, the growing family lived in a small home outside of Prague. Eben and his wife had three sons who have become highly successful figures in their respective fields in the Czech Republic. Kryštof Eben is a scientist, mathematician, and researcher affiliated with the Institute of Computer Science in Prague. Marek Eben is an actor, singer, composer, writer, and television host. He is known for standing up for his Christian beliefs and for his sense of humor and polite manners. David Eben is a musicologist and specialist in Gregorian chant. The Schola Gregoriana Pragensis (School of Gregorian Chant) ensemble, which he founded and now directs, has been giving concerts throughout the Czech Republic and abroad since 1989. The Schola was in fact founded two years earlier, but before the fall of communism it could only perform during church services. The three brothers formed a band, Bratři Ebenové (Eben Brothers), in 1984, and perform all over Prague and its neighboring cities through the present day. The success of the three sons is a result of the efforts of their father and the changing political climate that existed in the early part of their adult lives.13 An avid reader and literary scholar, Petr Eben chose his texts very carefully. David Eben said of his father with a laugh:

12 Petr Eben. Songs: Dagmar Pecková, mezzosoprán, Ivan Kusnjer, baryton, Petr Eben, Klavír, Jan Pěruška, viola. Supraphon, 2000. Compact disc.

13 David Eben, interview.

He has a reputation for being calm and only reverent or spiritual. No! My father has a fiery temper, especially while driving a car and some attest even at the organ, and a flair for the dramatic. This can be felt in his compositions with rise and fall of climax and release. The text was very important to him and it would dictate the wild flow of emotions and drama as captured in his compositions. He loved the human voice, particularly mezzo-sopranos and baritones. He would read many books and mark with a piece of paper, write down page numbers, check the top of a page, or dog-ear a page, if he found a poem or a phrase that struck him as capable of being set to music.14

Eben’s personal library contains a variety of books and biographies: Brahms, Lieder of Hildegard von Bingen, the Mendelssohns, Ernst Krenek, Josef Sudek, Benjamin Britten, Honegger, Mozart, Martinů, hymnals, Goethe’s Faust, and the Bible. Next to his piano, a large book remains open, words in Latin, displaying markings in pencil, perhaps texts of which were about to be set by the composer. Vividly abstract paintings and sculptures, few in number, adorn the studio where Eben worked. These works of art by Czech artists were inspired by specific Eben musical compositions. David Eben continued, “My father would spend many hours in this study. He was inspired by all things, by what he read, saw, and experienced. We knew that while father was working, we were not to disturb, for this work was the source of our survival.”15 In spite of the difficult years, Eben continued to develop his individual style true to his beliefs and slowly the quality of his work became recognized abroad. By the late 1970s, Eben’s reputation as both a performer and a composer extended as far west as Great Britain, and he was allowed to accept a teaching opportunity outside his homeland. In 1978-79 he served as Visiting Professor of Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. From this year onward Eben developed a close relationship with musicians and professors in London. Professor Graham Melville-Mason and Czech composer Karel Janovicky of the Dvoák Society formed a bond with Eben that would continue to the end of his life.16 Due to the harsh realities of the Communist regime, this relationship would not be able to develop fully until a decade later. It was not until the

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid. 16 Karel Janovicky, interview by author, 13 August 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

year 1989 that Eben received his due recognition. The Velvet Revolution (November 16–December 29, 1989) is the name given to the non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the Communist government. On Friday, November 17, 1989, riot police suppressed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. That event sparked a series of popular demonstrations from November 19 through late December. By November 20 the number of peaceful protesters assembled in Prague had swollen from 200,000 the previous day to an estimated half-million. A two-hour general strike involving the citizens of Czechoslovakia was held on November 27 at Wenceslas Square in the heart of Prague. With the collapse of other Communist governments and increasing street protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced on November 28 that it would relinquish power and dismantle the single-party state. On December 10, President Gustáv Husák appointed the first largely non-Communist government in Czechoslovakia since 1948, and then he resigned. Alexander Dubček was elected speaker of the federal parliament on December 28 and Václav Havel the President of Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989. In June 1990 Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946. After the Velvet Revolution, in a student led protest against professors who remained affiliated with the ideology of the Communist regime, a vote was cast for those people whom the students hoped would remain or become their future professors. One name was common on the ballot among the music history students past and present of Charles University–Petr Eben.17 Eben, age 60, was appointed Professor of Composition and elected president of the Prague Spring Music Festival, among other important positions in Czech musical life. While holding the presidency with typical modesty, he refused to allow his own music to be played at the festival.18

17 Melville-Mason, 6.

18 Ibid.

In England, he served as composer-in-residence at the Dartington International Summer School for the first Czech Week in 1993, and at Aldeburgh in 1997. In 2000 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and of the Royal Academy of Music and served as a Patron of the British Dvoák Society for Czech and Slovak Music since 1995. As a performing artist, especially as an improviser on piano and organ, he presented concerts in London’s Westminster Cathedral and Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral. In spite of the onset of a debilitating illness, Petr Eben continued for many years to travel abroad to festivals in his honor. Besides writing one church opera, Jeremias (Jeremiah, 1996), he continued composing mainly organ and choral pieces for church festivals while living quietly in Prague with his wife, in close proximity to his sons and grandchildren. With numerous opera houses and concert venues, spring and summer festivals, and the success of world renowned musicians and artists, the Czech Republic is now in a particularly advantageous situation politically and culturally for establishing itself as one of the finest musical centers in the world. A new sense of national identity and pride has taken hold among its people.19 Of all the recently liberated nations of central and eastern Europe, the Czech Republic has fared as well or considerably better in adapting to its new world position, due in great measure to the heroic example of the nation’s President who, with Eben, shares the distinction of being one of the Czech Republic’s most beloved and highly respected figures in its cultural life and in the self-sacrificing pursuit of independence through artistic statement. Karel Janovicky said of his friend: “Petr Eben was a typical angel without any trace of malice or rivalry. A bloody good honest man! It was remarkable that towards the end of his life while he was gradually losing his mind and did not recognize people, that he could play his compositions with all of the skill, facility, and technical refinement of a young brilliant organist. Seeing him play the organ for a special event in his honor sponsored by The Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Organists in London was an artistic highlight. The music was so strong; it came out of him without any

19 Miloslová Fousková, interview by author, 21 July 2007, Prague, Czech Republic.

problem. He was just plain original!”20 A testament to Eben’s close relationships with relatives, friends, colleagues, students, and citizens of the Czech Republic and Great Britain was never more seen than at his funeral service. Janovicky informs the author: “People came from all over the world. Some of his works were played and David’s Gregorian choir sang. Some former students joined to sing some of his choral pieces. I have never seen something quite like it.”21 The announcement of his death reads: “On Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Petr Eben gave his soul to God after a long and serious disease. He died among his family. Mass will take place at St. Jacob’s Church in The Old City of Prague on Tuesday, October 30 at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Petr Eben is survived by his wife Šarka, their three sons Kryštof, Marek, and David, and six grandchildren Marta, Anna, Daniel, Dominik, Jakub, and Simon.”22 Atop the notice of his death, a verse from the Book of Wisdom reads: “But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.”23

20 Janovicky, interview.

21 Ibid. 22 The announcement of Eben’s death can be found at the Czech Music Centre in Prague. 23 The quotation on the death notice is in Czech. The translation above is from The New American Bible (Camden, New Jersey: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1971).

CHAPTER TWO

EBEN’S TŠÍN PERIOD

“Eben’s Těšín period is quite marginal and not too important.”24 This was Czech composer, professor, and conductor Antonín Tučapský’s response to the author’s initial inquiry concerning Petr Eben’s Písně z Těšínska. The authors of the two existing biographies on Eben, Evá Vítová and Kateina Vondrovicová-Červenková, disregarded the arrangements of Těšín songs as “insubstantial”25 and “unworthy of exploration.”26 The scope of this treatise proves, to the contrary, that Eben’s 1952 study in the Těšín region has broader implications. It becomes clear that the time that Eben spent in the Těšín region was significant when one realizes the number of works that emerged from this experience. Písně z Těšínska is a set of folksongs that has been, up until now, overlooked, and has been viewed as a peripheral exploration of the Těšín people, the regional landscape, folk culture, and Těšín’s unique regional dialect. However, Těšín is not a marginal place, but rather a cosmopolitan town with much folk culture that continues to thrive today. Eben’s arrangements of Písně z Těšínska preserve folklore and are a vehicle for the transmission of it. Other composers have arranged folksongs from the Těšín region in styles that contrast with the distinctive musical voice of Eben. Jan Víčár, musicologist and professor at the Academy of Music in Prague, shared the names of these composers: “Mojžíšek, Vogel, Novák, Pískáček, Hradil, Dvoák and Janáček. Another Těšín folksong arranger that no one speaks of, not even here in Prague, is German composer

24 Antonín Tučapský, “Re: Songs from Těšín,” personal e-mail, 10 May 2008. According to Antonín Tučapský, Eben did not find any new material on this and although the author has been unable to find specific documentation regarding the purpose of the survey, Dr. Tučapský implies that because of this lack of new material coming forth, the project was not successful.

25 Evá Vitová, interview by author, 11 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

26 Kateina Vondrovicová-Čerenková, interview by author, 12 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

Ervin Shulhoff. His Těšín folksong arrangements from the 1920s and 1930s employ jazz harmonies.”27 The composers who have arranged folksongs from this region prior to Eben, while not vast in number, are interesting to note: they demonstrate that there is a historical and cultural context for the study of Eben’s Písně z Těšínska and underline the need for the study of these overlooked compositions. Tučapský continued in his response: “Songs from Těšín are nice and should be better known. The main obstacle is the strange dialect–a mixture of Czech, Slovak, Polish, and German languages, and for people from different areas, very difficult to pronounce. Your topic is interesting but not easy and I must stress very strongly that Petr Eben was not a folklorist.”28 Therein lies the complexity of the folksongs and perhaps part of the reason why they are overlooked. An ethnomusicological study of these folksongs provides insight regarding the musical and cultural life of an entire region of people to whom even Eben was a stranger. The people of Těšín speak kratký (short), owing to the influence of the spoken just across the river, explaining why there is an absence of the čárka in the folk texts. The čárka is the acute accent mark which denotes the long vowels for which the is known. It is important to note that čárka’s are found above certain consonants in this dialect, atypical of the Czech language but common in Polish. The dialect contains many differences when compared to the Czech and Polish languages. A discussion of the rich history of Těšín and the unique dialect commonly known among its natives as po našimu (in our own manner) will be discussed in Chapters Three and Four. A Czech folklorist and friend of Petr Eben, Jan Rokyta provided the author with a radiobroadcast interview made in in the late 1950s. In it the folklorist Jaromír Gelnar interviewed the young Eben about his work and study in the Těšín region. Gelnar asked Eben to explain the purpose, process, and result of the 1952 journey. Eben explained:

27 Jan Víčár, interview by author, 9 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

28 Tučapský, personal e-mail.

In 1952 Státni ústav pro lidovou píseň (The State Institute for Folksong) in Brno (now called the "Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno Branch") asked the Prague Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts to select a student who would be interested in collecting folksongs in the Těšín region during summer holiday. I loved folksongs so I accepted the offer and went there immediately and full of passion. I am very grateful that The State Institute for Folksong recruited me as a student to the Těšínské Slezsko (Těšín region) and Slezské Beskydy (Silesian Mountains) where I had the opportunity to collect the folksongs not yet transcribed. I believed that the people, nature, and helped me to understand this music and the local folklore more deeply. I hope that I have captured in my transcriptions something of folktunes the suggestivethemselves atmosphere of the region. While I was there I experienced profound, emotional, and moving moments. It was really a wonderful experience because typically you just see the folktunes in books or collections or hear them on the radio maybe, but I had the opportunity to dwell in the landscape of the region where they really were born and was able to hear the songs sung by the people whose parents, grandparents and great-grandparents made these songs. This was a lovely experience to be in this land and absorb the rich folklore. In my arrangements of Písně z Těšínska, for example, this experience was my main source of inspiration.29

Eben continues to explain the complexities in transcribing and arranging the folk tunes: Initially it seems like it would be easy for composers to stylize and arrange a folksong. Basically the composer already has a melody and he has to add the accompaniment. The question remains: In which style does the accompaniment complete the melody? Should it be adapted to the time when the folksong emerged or should it be rather “modern”? Wouldn’t the modern ones harm the melody? Of course different melodies need different accompaniments. I think that a living composer cannot deny “his or her” century. His or her period should be reflected in the arrangement but it has to be in harmony with the whole.

Upon hearing the songs sung by village peasants, the “performers” do not always sing clearly and the rhythm can be misrepresented. Intonation can be bad and a composer has to sometimes surmise a given note or interval within the folksong. To transcribe the melody of Bohemian folksong is no problem because they are very transparent, but the melodies of Moravian-Silesian songs are very rich and more complicated. You can find unusual intervals, modulations, and interesting, complicated harmonies. Therefore, the composer has to be very careful so that he does not suppress the richness of the song by adding his own ideas.

29 Petr Eben, interview by Jaromír Gelnar, 1950s, translated by Iva Raková. Radio broadcast, Ostrava, Czech Republic.

I think that in contemporary music we recede from basic sources. It is necessary to be experimental but the current musical jargon is getting complicated and I wanted to return to my musical roots, my main inspirations, Gregorian chant with its simple monody (afterall it was the beginning of European music) and folksong. I know quite well the German, English, and French folksongs but I think Czech folksongs are really the great treasure! Our folksongs are very rare, holding in them its history, and among them we can find both western and eastern type. The western type in Bohemia has rather a classicist and instrumental character. There are many texts for one melody. On the other side, Moravian-Silesian folksong is full of many lyrical melodies with one given text. These folksongs have rich harmony and many influences from other countries. Most of the Moravian- Silesian songs are sung in 3/4 bar and are modal. I wonder how people can sing such difficult songs so well in tune? The melody is variable, almost adventurous. My assistant Bohumil Indra (1912-2003) transcribed the words as best he could in our Czech language, giving more of a transliteration as it were, and I transcribed the melodies as I heard them sung. This short and succinct language is reflected in my accented accompaniments. I did not have the opportunity to work directly with speech intonation as Janáček did, for my task was to compose the accompaniment and arrange the songs.30

Eben includes a preface in the score of Písně z Těšínska explaining more about his method of arrangement and collection of the folksongs: Today a composer may encounter folksongs only, for the most part, in printed collections. A published song may exhibit beauty and originality; however, it is a plucked flower that conveys as little about its home and its origins as a pressed flower does about its scent, or the meadow and bees around it. If the recorded folksongs of the Moravian-Silesian region created such a meaningful and unforgettable impression on me, then this speaks to their richness: I could hear songs from people of a region that was created by their ancestors. These three fertile regions – in their natures, people, and songs–helped me to understand melody more deeply. This is especially critical in these songs, in which are mixed Moravian, Silesian, Polish, German, Old Church Slavic, and any other number of elements.

The vivid, authentic interpretation, however, did not merely give me the key to the melodies themselves, but also revealed much about the accompaniment of these arrangements. If an old peasant taps his heels during a rhythmically accented song, in irregularly alternating time, then those beats must appear in the piano accompaniment. And the moon would have to shine in the arrangement of the song “Za gorum, za vodum,” just as brightly as it did at the time when I perceived its melody, when an old woman recalled exactly when the moon appeared: “Once more about the moon…” I would be glad if I was able to capture

30 Ibid.

and translate in the arrangements at least something of the suggestive atmosphere that accompanied my encounter with Moravian-Silesian songs31

According to Tučapský: “Eben was invited to collect folksongs in the Těšín region because he was able to notate the tunes very well and the recorder (magnetophone) was not available but he didn’t discover more folksongs… nothing new…folksongs and folk poetry had simply vanished from villages. Many songs were already known in various collections and school songbooks.”32 The resulting collection from the 1952 study included two hundred eighty folksongs. While they may not have been newly discovered, Eben discovered them nonetheless, and of the total sum, he chose eleven and arranged them in his Písně z Těšínska, which reflected his experience. The Czech National Revival in the 19th century represents an important turning point for traditional music. During the national revival, scholars and specialists were responsible for documenting folk music of the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire. Later, in 1835, the priest František Sušil (1804-1868) published Moravské národní písně (Moravian National Songs), the founding collection of Moravian folk songs. The second important collector of folk songs was the dialectologist and folklorist František Bartoš (1837-1906), who published his collection Nové národní písně moravské s nápěvy do textu vřaděnými (New Moravian Folksongs with Melodies Set to Text) in 1882. He closely collaborated with Czech composer Leoš Janáček who later became the leader of the Moravian folklore movement. During the 1930s, Janá ek published his folksong , č collection called Moravské písně milostné (Moravian Love Songs) and also organized the first recordings of the folk music with a phonograph. His recordings represent the oldest documentation of Moravian folk music. Many other valuable regional folksong collections and songbooks compiled by František Lýsek, Helena Salichova, and her son, Salich, were also published during this time, and collecting activities continued through the second half of the 20th century. Today thousands of folksongs from Moravia are archived in the Ethnographic Division of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, formerly The State Institute for Folksong.

31 Petr Eben, Písně z Těšínska, Bärenreiter Editio Supraphon, Praha, 1952.

32 Tučapský, “Re: Songs from Těšín,” personal e-mail, 21 May 2008.

Indeed, several of the melodies and/or texts from Eben’s Písně z Těšínska have been discovered by the author of this treatise in various collections located in the archives of libraries in Prague and Těšín. These folk tunes were found in Josef Mojžíšek’s Lidové písně z Těšínska (Folksongs from Těšín, a collection of 106 folksongs) and Miroslav Kyjonka’s Z pěvník lidových písní z Těšínska (Songbook of Folksongs from Těšín). The folk tunes are shown with variances in text, melodic line, and rhythm when compared to Eben’s transcriptions. Tučapský wrote to the author, “I can’t say if he used these songs somewhere else or if they had certain influence on his music.”33 No extant material until now documents the direct relationship between Eben’s Těšín period to his later works. Indeed, this period significantly influences his later works. Following the arrangement of Písně z Těšínska, Eben composed a setting of Christmas carols for children, Kolednici z Těšínska (Carols from Těšín, 1963), based on Těšín folksongs. Graham Melville-Mason informed the author that these were the only two vocal compositions influenced by Eben’s study in the Těšín region.34 While no other future compositions by Eben incorporated entire folk melodies or texts from the region, much of his work was influenced by his overall experience in the Těšín region. The author has determined that the following works were a result of the 1952 study in Těšín: Balady pro sola, smiseny sbor a orchestr (Ballads for Solos, Mixed Chorus, and Orchestra, 1953 and 1957); choral cycles: Laska a smrt (Love and Death, 1957-58) and O vlaštovkách a dívkách (On Swallows and Girls, 1959-60); a collection for piano (Four Hands); and Hájíčku zelený (The Green Grove, 1963, 1978- 79). In addition to the works inspired from the 1952 study, it should be duly noted that all of his life he turned to folksong from other regions, and they are reflected in the following works: Narodní písně pro smíšený sbor (National Songs for Mixed Chorus, 1952); Krumlovský žamek (The Castle of Krumlov, 1955) for female choir, piano and wind quintet; Orffova skola (Orff’s School, 1966) for children’s chorus and piano;

33 Tučapský, personal e-mail.

34 Graham Melville-Mason, “Petr Eben Songs,” personal e-mail, 5 February 2008.

Podzimní a zimní lídově písně (Autumn and Winter Folksongs, 1969); and Sto lidových písní (One Hundred A Cappella Folk Choral Arrangements).35 Eben’s experience in the Těšín region, along with the reactionary upsurge in interest in national folklore during the Soviet occupation, had a profound effect on his music, as evidenced by the number of subsequent compositions that resulted. The arrangements in Písně z Těšínska are a direct result of his encounter with folk culture and the people of the region Těšínske Slesko, specifically in the town of Těšín. An exploration of the historical and the cultural background of the town and research into the dialect provides insight into the musical and cultural influences in the eleven songs.

35 Kateina Vondrovicová-Červenková, Petr Eben, 2d ed. (Praha: Panton, 1995), 70.

CHAPTER THREE

THE TŠÍN REGION

Understanding the location of the Těšín region requires an understanding of the geography and bordering countries of the Czech Republic in general. The Czech Republic borders Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Poland. The country is divided into two parts: Bohemia and Moravia. An area known as Silesia is located in both the Moravian part of the Czech Republic and in Poland. The Těšín region spans Hrčavy, Czech Republic and , Poland in the east to Bohumín, Czech Republic and Chalupki, Poland in the west. The Olše river creates a natural border at the heart of the region where the towns Český Těšín, Czech Republic and Cieszyn, Poland are situated. This town straddles the Czech/Polish border, lying in the region of Northern Moravia and Silesia. Many folksongs, including the ones in Eben’s Písně z Těšínska, originated from the Moravian-Silesian region, specifically in the area known as Lašsko, where the Těšín region lies.36 This was the region to where, in 1952, The State Institute for Folksong in Brno, sent Petr Eben to collect and transcribe folksong in the original dialect. The resulting collection of 280 folksongs and the eleven songs arranged by Petr Eben provide rich documentation of the spirit of the Těšín people, the regional landscape, folk culture, and Těšín’s unique regional dialect. A map of the Czech Republic and its borders can be seen in Figures 3.1 and 3.2 and a closer view showing the Olše river dividing Český Těšín, Czech Republic and Cieszyn, Poland can be seen on the map labeled Figure 3.3.

36 Boleslav Slováček, interview by author, 7 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Figure 3.1: Map of the Czech Republic.37

37 Map of the Czech Republic, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, http://www.cia.gov/library/publication/the-world-factbook/geos/ez.html (accessed 16 May 2009).

Figure 3.2: Map of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Silesia.38

38 Map of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Silesia, http://warchat.org/history/histor y-world/wars-in-year-1900-1950.html (accessed 16 May 2009).

Figure 3.3: Map of Český Těšín/Cieszyn.39

39 Map of Český Těšín/Cieszyn, Vydalo Muzeum Těšínsko, Copyright Shocart, 2007.

3.1: Tšín History

Legends and myths are integral traditions of folklore. The town of Těšín is rooted in folklore and its origins are described in this tale. In the year 810 three sons of a prince–Bolko, Leško and Těško–were reunited after a long pilgrimage. At their meeting point, they founded a new settlement and called it Těšín.40 In Czech, těšit se (to look forward to; to enjoy) is contracted to form the word těšín and thus they called the town Těšín at the time of their reunion.41 “We will come here with other people and in eternal memory of our happy meeting we will build a fortified city on this very hill. We will name the city Těšín (Happiness) because we are all overjoyed with our meeting.”42 Some Těšín natives say that it was Těško’s name that helped in choosing the name for the new city because he was the last one who came to this beautiful countryside. The legend continues that that autumn Bolko, Leško, and Těško turned a Těšín spring into a well that commemorates their happy reunion. “The Well of Three Brothers” still stands in a narrow and picturesque street in Old Cieszyn. A plaque on the well tells the legend about the founding of the town on the Olša River and explains the origin of its name. The first recorded reference to Těšín is in a document dated 23 April 1152, regarding the castle of Těšín. Around the castle and the Olše River a town was founded and is mentioned as early as the year 1223. The municipal rights for this town are documented as of 1290. Prince Měšek Piastovci I became not only the founder of the Těšín line of Piasts, but also the first prince to reside in the Těšín castle. An independent Těšín princedom was created and the town of Těšín, due to its convenient location at the crossroads of trading routes, became the administrative and commercial center of the region. The Piasts ruled in Těšín until 1653, when the last Těšín princess from the Piast dynasty died. The Těšín princedom became part of the Czech Crown and devolved to the Hapsburgs, who reigned until 1918.

40 Adam (last name unknown, a Těšín native), interview by author, 9 August 2008, Jablunkov, Czech Republic.

41 Barbora Baronová, interview by author, 9 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic. 42 “The Well of Three Brothers,” Těšín/Cieszyn landmark.

In 1918 the Těšín region was divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland. It was determined that the Olše River be made the border between the two countries. The Těšín region was fought over. In the end the Těšín region was divided by a decree of the ambassadorial conference of the Allied Powers on 28 July 1920. The historic Těšín region became the twin-town of Český Těšín/Cieszyn. The more developed part of the town on the right bank of the river, including the castle, fell to Poland, and the underdeveloped area of villages on the left bank fell to Czechoslovakia. This village area, however, had promising prospects for development. The redeeming aspect of the left bank was the railway station from where trains left for Tinec, Jablunkov, Slovakian Košice, and to the railway junction in Bohumín, from where there was a connection through Ostrava to Brno and Prague. During the course of the following eighteen years, Poles and Czechs continued to dispute over the town. After the Munich Conference in 1938, Český Těšín was assigned to Poland. This was shortlived because at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the two countries became occupied by Hitler’s Nazi Germany and were officially incorporated into the Third Reich. Both towns were merged into one unit. Thus Těšín and Cieszyn belonged to Germany until the end of World War II. At the end of the Second World War in 1945, the towns were freed by the Soviet army and the borders were restored to their pre-1938 division. Disputes over ownership of the town erupted once again, but a decision was made to keep the towns separate on either side of the border. Armed guards would stand along the border, prohibiting the people from crossing between the two countries.43 With a myriad of nationalites of people living in the region and neither Poles living exclusively in Cieszyn nor Czechs exclusively in Těšín, a law was made that in a town where a minority makes up at least 10% of the population, bilingual notices were to be used in public.44 This explains why Těšín and Cieszyn to this day have bilingual street, restaurant, and railway station names.

43 Judith (last name unkown, a Těšín native), interview by author, 8 August 2008, T ěšín, Czech Republic.

44 Ibid.

The towns grew significantly, due to the administrative connection of the neighbouring villages. On the outskirts of the town several settlements were created. In the town center, vacant sites were gradually built up, but not always in a unified architectural form. One can find medieval, gothic, renaissance, baroque, classicist, cubist, and functionalist monuments within Cieszyn. Because Český Těšín had the disadvantage of being initially a village area, the town remained rather underdeveloped until the 1960s, when schools, a library, and a theater were built. Plays and concerts in the theater were and still are performed in Czech and Polish. By the 1980s Český Těšín was known as an industrial center for the making of paper and paper products. After 1989, with the change in the political regime, the border was opened. Citizens of the towns were permitted to walk freely across the border from one country to the other. Unfortunately, the newfound freedom of the past twenty years has not diminished rivalry between the older citizens of Český Těšín and Cieszyn. In the year 2010 Český Těšín will celebrate its 90th anniversary; however, Cieszyn will celebrate its 1,200-year anniversary because Poles consider the origin of the city to date to the legend of the three brothers and its founding in 810.45 Today Český Těšín and Cieszyn are considered one town made up of a Czech and Polish government. Czech folklorist and leader of the Český Těšín folk group Slezan, Boleslav Slováček, believes that the current rivalry exists because of the town’s rich history.46

3.2: Tšín Folk Music and Culture

Traditional Moravian music represents a part of the European musical culture connected with the regions around the western . It is characterized by specific modal melodies and harmonic textures related to the Eastern European musical world. According to Czech musicologist Jan Víčár, Moravia is the area where

45 Slováček, interview.

46 Ibid.

the European East musically meets the West.47 The traditional music of Western Moravia is closely related to the music of Bohemia. It was influenced by the folk music of Germany and other western regions as well as the of the Baroque and Classical periods. The music is mostly written in major keys and its rhythm and structure are regular and firm. The music of Southeastern Moravia differs substantially. It is closely related to the musical style of Eastern Europe, using minor keys, modes, exoticism, irregular musical features, and melodic elements characterisctic of eastern countries such as , Slovakia, , and . Here it is also possible to find elements of gypsy scales that contain augmented intervals unusual for the traditional music of Western Europe. The key elements of the traditional music of Southeastern Moravia are emotional variegation and great rhythmic leeway. Moravian folksongs can be categorized as follows: love songs of various types (joyous songs, sad songs), wedding songs, recruitment and army songs, shepherd songs, jocular songs–with ironic and pointed remarks focusing on human weaknesses, drinking songs–in praise of the scent and flavor of wine and spirits or poking fun at those who drink too much, ceremonial songs, carnival songs, work songs, dance songs, carols, and funeral songs.48 Moravian folk music incorporates various types of instruments. A characteristic folk instrument often used in Moravian music is the cimbalom, similar to a folk hammer dulcimer. In performance it is often carried by a single musician, typically using a strap around the neck of the player, who leans one edge of the instrument against his or her waist. Like the folk hammer dulcimer, the cimbalom is played by striking two beaters against strings. There are also no damper mechanisms, therefore much use of the hand, fingers, and forearm takes place for damping. The instrument can play a wide range of pitches and employs full chromatic scales. Despite the fact that in the time of capitalism there were major changes in folksongs in Bohemia, the decline of the traditional folk singing was not as widespread in

47 Víčár, interview.

48 Jan Rokyta, interview by author, 10 August 2008, Ostrava, Czech Republic.

other parts of the Czech Republic, including the Těšín region. The villagers still worked in fields and in forests and maintained old-fashioned ways of living and enjoying old folksongs and folk music traditions. The inhabitants who worked in the industrial parts of Těšín also maintained the older folkloric traditions. The Těšín region is “the most singing” area in the Moravian–Silesian territory.49 The songs from the region are diverse in subject and form. They serve as strong artistic representations of folklore and stem from the influences of Czech, Slovak, German, Jewish, and Polish cultures. The vigorously expanding industry of the Těšín region attracted many nationalities of people from different parts of the world who were looking for work. They brought with them their own folksongs.50 An average folksinger from Těšín is about seventy years old, but in the more mountainous areas of the region there are many singers as young as thirty. A specific way of singing dominates. The songs are sung in a high tessitura with tones created in the throat–as if the singer were shouting in chest voice.51 Because many of the songs are sung to gajdy (bagpipes), which are tuned in D major, it forces a very high tessitura. Men have to sing in this range because this is considered the ideal voice–singing in tune with a bright, high, and strong voice. If men sing an octave lower, people will laugh at them.52 The technique used for this type of singing is equivalent to the belt technique of a musical theater singer. Technically, the thyroarytenoid muscles of the larynx dominate, resulting in chest-dominated phonation. The singer does not have the assistance of a microphone or the ability to sing with classically produced resonance, therefore the singer has to shout. There are two reasons for this type of singing: the tuning of gajdy and singing in open air.53 Video footage of the 2008 Summer Folk Festival in Jablunkov documents this

49 Jaromír Gelnar and Oldich Sirovátka, Slezskě Písně (Praha: Státní Nakladatelství Krásné Literatury, Hudby a Umění, 1957), 8.

50 Ibid.

51 Slováček, interview. 52 Ibid. 53 Gelnar, radio broadcast.

style of singing and is included in the documentary attached to the appendix of this treatise. The tradition of preserving folk culture began in the 17th century when local scribes from the ranks of the peasantry began to chronicle both interesting historical events and ethnocultural facts. They began documenting folksongs and folk tales in collections. Among the best-known writings include the “notebooks” of J. Galacz from Dolní Těrlicko, J. Gajdzica from Cisownice, J. Michalik from Žukov-Kotz, A. Pustówka from Oldichovice, and P. Syurman from Dolní Lištná. During the national revival period of the mid-19th century, two of the foremost exponents of the Těšín revival, P. Stalmach and A. Cinciała, became major contributors to the development of folklore in the Těšín region. They approached the folk tradition not as occasional collectors (as their forerunners had done), but as authors who were fully aware of the significant role folk culture played in the ennoblement of the national spirit.54 During his studies in Bratislava, P. Stalmach, author of the Collection of Slavic Songs (Cieszyn 1849), Book of the Slavic Nation (Cieszyn 1887), and Cieszymir (Cieszyn 1890), drew inspiration from the ideas of the Slovak revivalist L. Štúr. A. Cinciała, a law student at the University of Cracow, gained his experience of folklore from Professor L. Malinowski and his followers. Among Cinciała’s groundbreaking works are a collection of 402 songs, which unfortunately lack a musical score (Folksongs from the Těšín Area, Cracow 1885); his collection of 1,312 proverbs (Proverbs, Sayings and Interesting Expressions of the Silesian Polish Population in the Těšín Dukedom, Cieszyn 1885); and the first extensive dictionary of the Těšín dialect (Dictionary of the Dialect of the Těšín Dukedom), for which he was awarded a prize by the Cracow Academy of Arts, and which was reprinted in 1998. Cinciała’s grandson, a native of Dolní Datyně named Jan Bzstroń, who was a student of the Jagellonian University in Krakow under Professor Malinowski, was the author of the first scholarly study of one of the Těšín dialects (On the Polish Dialect in the Lucyna and Stonawka River Basin of the Těšín Dukedom, Cracow 1885). The study includes a wide range of interesting material on proverbs and folk prose, with an especially valuable section on superstitious tales. These works gave inspiration to

54 Karol Daniel Kadłubiec, Andrej Sulitka, and Jaroslav Štika, Těšínsko (Těšín: Muzeum Těšínska Valašské muzeum v pirodě Nakladatelství Tilia, 2003), 148.

local teachers and collectors who saw folklore as a repository of important educational, artistic, national, and social values.55 The varying cultures and differentiations within the Těšín region in terms of religion, education, and the mixture of linguistic groups result in a uniquely folkcentric culture. Following the Second World War, the new era brought with it a new approach to the revival of folk culture. Folk groups were formed and their stage performances brought a revival of folk costumes, traditions, songs, dances, children’s games, embroidery, and other manifestations of folk art. The folklore, together with song, music, and dance, became important in identifying various groups. The Těšín region is one of the last remaining areas in the country with a truly living folk tradition. The folklore event with the longest tradition in the Těšín region is the Mountain Festival in Jablunkov, mentioned previously, which was first held in 1948. In an age of globalization, such traditions are critical to preserving a community’s identity.

3.3: Tšín Dialect

There are many dialects of the Czech language in the two parts of the Czech Republic: Bohemia and Moravia. Regional dialects are merely variations of one language, identified by the use of particular words and usually by a distinctive pronunciation. For example, Czechs from Prague (in Bohemia) tend to lengthen some vowels while Czechs from Brno (in Moravia) tend to shorten them. Literary Czech provides a standard for the whole country, and is taught in schools and heard on television and other public venues. The Těšín region is linguistically mixed and the people speak a dialect known as po našimu, which means “the way we talk” or “in our own manner.”56 Po našimu can be identified with the group of Silesian dialects and is phonetically closer to Polish than Czech.

55 Ibid.

56 Baronová, interview.

Czech baritone Ivan Kusnjer recorded Písně z Těšínska with Eben at the piano. Kusnjer informed the author, “Even Czechs don’t understand some of these words! I added my own variations to the words in the score because I know a few sounds from this dialect. Eben did not say a word.”57 Being a language that relies more on oral tradition than literary, there are variances in the pronunciation depending on the generation, the distance from one village to another, or level of education. Barbora Baronová told the author, “My family speaks po našimu but within each household there are variances. We can go to a restaurant and sit next to a table of a family from Poland, Prague, or even from a nearby village and we will not be understood.”58 Miroslav Kyjonka describes in the Introduction to Songbook of Folksongs from Těšín the complexities in transcribing Těšín folksongs in the local dialect.

Esteemed admirers of fine singing!

Many compilations of songs from various ethnic regions of our republics have now been published. What is missing, however, is a contemporary, comprehensive songbook from the Těšín region suitable for wide use in school practice, folk ensembles, choruses, families, etc. Strictly professional publications, such as those by Dr. Jaromír Gelnar, Dr. I. Stolaík, and others, were written specifically for a specialized audience.

This collection of folksongs was compiled with the aim of popularizing the great wealth of songs from Těšín, which have been often overshadowed by songs from other regions, particularly from Slovakia, Wallachia, and others, despite the fact that they possess a large wealth of unusual melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements. An obvious obstacle to their wider application is the linguistic difficulty of the characteristic dialect, which, with its distinct pronunciation, is dissimilar to that of other regions in our republics. In addition to this, the songs differ according to source: from the mountainous parts of Těšín (Jablunkovsko, Tinecko), or the northwestern region closer to Frýdek, Orlov, and Bohumín. Beyond that there are often considerable differences between close communities and between the residents of a single community.

Considering the circumstances, one must treat (beyond Mojžíšek) the records of the bulk of the postwar period (the 1950s), where it is possible to see the obvious influence of written classroom instruction, Czech as well as Polish. Therefore at

57 Ivan Kusnjer, interview with the author, 15 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

58 Baronová, interview.

the time of the final recording of individual songs, I made the effort for the written page to be examined by specialists on the ethnographic and linguistic levels. In several instances a general pronunciation was used, avoiding the specific practice of individual singers to use the pronunciation characteristic of their community. This practice is typical, for example, in the community of Hrčava, where Czech mingles specifically with Polish and Slovak. This practice is definitively featured in recordings of songs performed by a single singer. To more than four hundred years of performance by the folk ensembles of Slezan from Český Těšín, I can add, for example, the performances of the legendary bagpipe player and singer Pavel Zogat, who in the 1960s often performed with our ensemble. The versions of the texts of songs in his renditions often changed from performance to performance, and even from verse to verse. From this is it possible to make the definitive claim that folklore can never be regarded as something archaically rigid, but rather as something continually developing and alive. Many years of familiarity from work with a folkloric ensemble has illustrated that which can also be seen in the work of Pavel Zogat: definitive change in the lyrical and melodic parts of performed songs. It was determined that there was a special need for a logical approach to the problem of why the lyrical forms of recorded songs did not correspond to the written forms. In addition it was necessary at some point to revise the melodic and rhythmic forms of the songs, considering the fact that in the act of transcribing the songs, collectors wrote their own verses which did not correspond with widely used melodic and rhythmic practices. As I have already noted, it was my intent that the songs could be used in various circumstances. With this goal in mind, the songs in the collections are maximally simplified, especially their rhythms, and a specialized audience will perceive this simplification. The harmonic elements of the accompaniment are in the majority of cases equally simplified, so that they may be used by students and by amateur musicians. The simplification is expressed in such a way that the capital letters represent major chords (C, G, D, and so forth), and the lower case letters represent minor chords (a, d, g, and so on). I would be glad to focus on a few problems that concern the graphic entry of the texts of songs. I have made an effort to adhere to Czech orthography, which however, does not accurately express the phonetic pronunciation of some songs. For example, in the word "my" (muj), the phonetic pronunciation has a sound between the letters "u" and "o." Considering that the closest letter to that sound in Czech is pronounced "u," I used that letter. Another problem is the transcription of the soft and hard "l." Written Czech has only one sign to represent these sounds; in many dialects there are two pronunciations, hard and soft. The pronunciation of "l" in words in Těšín is distinguished phonetically; therefore I used the letters used in Polish to represent hard "ł" and soft "l." I will further note that in Orlov and on to Frýdek the pronunciation of hard "l" was not so often used. So far, the "l" here is a transitional one between the hard and soft. In these

times, considering the integration of the inhabitants, this sign is changing, in Czech and in Polish.59

There is an extensive amount of vocal repertoire set to texts written in both by Moravian and Bohemian composers. Novák, Martinů, and Janáček, to name a few, all set texts to Moravian dialect as well as to literary Czech. Janáček’s folksong arrangements were transcribed in a manner similar to Eben’s. In his collection Fifty Moravian Folksongs, the words and melodies are faithful to folk performances. Janáček collected thousands of folksongs throughout Moravia. “He listened to a number of natives and wrote down the varying pitch levels and rhythmic accentuation of the spoken dialect, and inflection of words. In some cases, only krátký dialects were used, as is the case with Písně z Těšínska.”60 According to Timothy Cheek, author of the Czech lyric diction textbook Singing in Czech, there is no need to try to sound Moravian in singing this music. Czech singers invariably adopt a standard literary Czech pronunciation even for the Moravian dialect. Singers need only sing what is written.61 The arrangements in Písně z Těšínska are transliterations by Bohumil Indra from the spoken dialect po našimu. Because neither Eben nor Indra knew the dialect intimately, there are mistakes of consonant and vowel spellings in the musical score. The author of this treatise recommends referring to the recording of native speakers in Appendix B and studying the rudimentary breakdown listed below as a guide in adhering to the authentic pronunciation of the dialect. A rudimentary breakdown of the dialect is listed below. 1. The Czech tě is given the IPA symbol [t’ɛ] where the t is an unvoiced, unaspirated alveolar palatal consonant followed by open [ɛ]. The [t’] does not occur in the English language. In Czech, it is considered a soft version of [t], making sure that the tip of the tongue is resting against the lower incisors, and allowing the top arch of the

59 Miroslav Kyjonka, Z Pěvník lidových písní z Těšínska trans. Lisa Ryoko Wakamiya (Český Těšín: PRO print spol. S.r.o., 2004), 3-4.

60 Timothy Cheek, interview by author, 6 March 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 61 Timothy Cheek, Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire (Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, 2001), 121.

tongue to meet the hard palate. The Czech ti is pronounced [t’i]. The same is for the Czech dě [d’ɛ], except the [d’] is a voiced, unaspirated alveolar palatal consonant. Likewise, the Czech di is pronounced [d’i]. In the Těšín dialect, the aforementioned letter combinations are pronounced almost as an affricate and can be given the following IPA symbols: tě = če [tʃ’ɛ], ti = či [tʃ’i], dě = dže [dʒ’ɛ], and di = dži [dʒ’i] in the dialect. 2. In Polish sz [ʃ], ż [ʒ], and cz [tʃ] are identical sounds in the Těšín dialect, but spelled š, ž, č.62 The dialect will have no čárka’s over the vowels because the dialect is influenced by Polish and is spoken with all short vowels. 3. A strong tendency of this region, unlike the typical Czech language, is to disregard the glottal after one-letter prepositions, as in v okně (on the window), pronounced [vɔkɲɛ] in the dialect. For singers, this is optional.63 4. A few isolated areas in Moravia, including the Tĕšín region, have either the hard or wrapped ł or the typical Czech soft l. Soft l and hard or wrapped ł are used interchangeably in the dialect. The hard or wrapped ł, pronounced [w], is more common in the “mountain” folksongs, whereas the soft l pronounced [l’] is spoken in the lowlands, therefore used in the “river” folksongs. The sound [l’] is a voiced fricative alveolar lateral consonant that is always light and forward, like the Italian and French [l], or similar to the occasionally light [l] in English words such as lit [lɪt]. The tip of the tongue rises to the alveolar ridge, not too far back, thus avoiding the often dark and thick English [l]. Singers may certainly employ these sounds interchangeably, if desired, but Czech singers typically disregard the wrapped ł and sing l.64 5. All vowels are short (krátký) in the dialect: mila (beautiful), stoji (stand). 6. Most words in the Těšín dialect have different spellings for the same words in the literary Czech language. For example, polić (dialect) is páliti (literary Czech) meaning: burn; staro (dialect) is starý (literary Czech) meaning: old; vrota (dialect) is vrata (literary Czech) meaning: gate; prog (dialect) is práh (literary Czech) meaning:

62 Petr Eben, Písně z Těšínska.

63 Cheek, Singing in Czech. 64 Ibid.

doorstep; śostra (dialect) is sestra (literary Czech) meaning: sister; ščana (dialect) is stěna (literary Czech) meaning: wall.65 7. In Czech pronunciaton i and y are discerned as closed i [i] and open y [ɪ]. The local dialect does not differentiate between these two vowel sounds, resulting in both i and y being pronounced closed [i]. 8. The dialect contains differences in declination. For example, in the dialect the declined singular feminine form ending is ym (rybym, meaning fish), which is y in typical Czech (ryby). Another example is the singular feminine form ending of um (dźevuchum, meaning girlfriend), which is ou in typical Czech (dívkou). 9. The endings of pronouns have variances, for example, s tum našum (with ours), which in typical Czech is s tím naším. 10. The past tense is formed in a way different from literary Czech. 11. Typical of Polish, the stress in the Těšín dialect is on the penultimate syllable, for example: ńedogońi (they do not catch me), where go receives the word stress. In typical Czech, the stress is always on the first syllable of the word. 12. It is important to note that in both typical Czech and in the Těšín dialect, the vowel sounds are forward, similar to those of the Italian language. For this reason, it is the brightest of the Slavic languages. The complexity of the dialect inspired the author to find a definitive pronunciation guide by way of interviewing various people from Těšín. In so doing, matters only became more complicated when each group of people from Těšín had a different opinion of not only how the folktexts of Eben’s Písně z Těšínska should be pronounced, but a discrepancy as to which region the folksongs belonged. After an extensive interview process, three groups of people from Těšín have been determined to claim the songs as their own, therefore claiming that they have the “correct” pronunciation. The three groups of people from Těšín are 1) Polish, 2) Czech, and 3) Těšín natives. The people in all three groups speak po našimu with its own variances, and currently live in Těšín. At home the groups of people speak their native language; the Poles living in Těšín speak Polish, the Czechs living in Těšín speak Czech, and the group of natives speaks only po

65 Rokyta, interview.

našimu. While Těšín school children are taught either Czech or Polish in their schools, many still speak po našimu with their families and friends. The results of this interview process have proven that a definitive pronunciation does not exist; however, it is the intent of this treatise to preserve the most authentic reading, translation, and written form of the texts. The Těšín natives provide the most authentic version. Included in the Appendix is a reading of the entire folk texts by two natives of Těšín: Boleslav Slováček and Dagmar Szturcová. This reading represents the most definitive pronunciation and is recommended by the author as the primary study guide for singers and vocal coaches of these songs. Two phrases from two of the folksongs have been selected for a closer comparative analysis. These phrases are read by one person from the first group (Roman Grycz, a Pole living in Těšín), two people from the second group (Renata Utíkal, a Czech living in Těšín and Ivan Kusnjer - Czech living in Prague, who is familiar with the Těšín dialect), and two people from the more authentic third group (Boleslav Slováček and Dagmar Szturcová). These comparative readings display the slight and sometimes glaring differences in the spoken dialect from one region to another; they are also attached to the Appendix. Additionally, Chapter Four includes the folk texts in the written form of the dialect by Těšín native, Barbora Baronová. These recordings and written folk texts help to preserve the dialect known as po našimu as represented in Písně z Těšínska. To paraphrase Steven Roger Fischer in his provocative book A History of Language: once dead, languages cannot be resurrected.66 Most linguists accept that the mass extinction of languages or dialects is already a foregone conclusion: the price humanity is paying for the new global society. The broad implications and impact of Eben’s Písně z Těšínska, a result of his 1952 journey to Těšín, defy the statements by previous authors and professors that this period in Eben’s compositional life was insignificant; there is promise that within Petr Eben’s arrangments of folksongs from the historically rich town of Český Těšín/Cieszyn, its folklore will be preserved and its dialect will not die.

66 Steven Roger Fischer, A History of Language 2d ed. (The : BCA by arrangement with Reaktion Books Ltd., 2005), 198.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE FOLKSONGS

A specific exploration of Písně z Těšínska including consideration of text, music, and cultural references reveals Moravian-Silesian folk characteristics as captured through the distinct musical voice of Petr Eben. First, the folksongs have been categorized as either “river” or “mountain” songs, based upon their origin within the Těšín region. Second, special attention has been given to the folk texts in terms of authenticity. Because the texts in the musical score are merely transliterations of the dialect, it is important to view the texts in a more authentic form, written by someone who speaks the dialect. In this written form the dialect more closely matches the vowel and consonant sounds of the native speakers. An English translation of the texts as seen in the musical score follows this authentic form of the written dialect. Included in Appendix A is a word-for-word translation of the texts as transcribed by Eben and Indra. Third, at least one music example from each of the eleven folksongs is included that represents a hallmark of Eben’s compositional style with Moravian-Silesian folk idioms. The goal for Eben was simply to capture the spirit of Těšín. While that remains the objective for performers, an ethnomusicological endeavor for authenticity gives clarity and deeper insight into the folksongs. Folksongs originating from the mountains are labeled “mountain” songs.67 These folksongs are influenced by the old-Slavonic language and are sung in the local dialect po našimu. Musical characteristics of the folksongs from this area of the Těšín region include the use of Mixolydian and Lydian modes, use of primitively whittled wood whistles, use of the cimbalom, and use of gajdy (bagpipes), which has a scale of six tones only. Folklorists assume that the oldest “mountain” songs come from the middle of the 17th century. These folk tunes have smaller vocal ranges because the instruments that accompany them were not as developed and could not produce the full range of pitches that more modern instruments are capable of producing.

67 Rokyta, interview.

Folksongs originating from the lowlands are labeled “river” songs.68 These folksongs are also sung in the local po našimu dialect. Musical characteristics of the folksongs from this region are as follows: use of ordinary Ionian mode (C major), more “Czech” and “Bohemian” song qualities such as major keys, wider vocal ranges, not as many Polish influences as found in the “mountain” folksongs, no gajdy, music ensembles including string instruments, wind instruments, and the cimbalom. The “river” songs are younger than “mountain” songs as they originated mostly in the 19th century. The “mountain” and “river” songs were sung by a group of people known as gawendžioře (storytellers). These storytellers told personal tales of their ancestors through the songs. Eben and Indra met some of the gawendžioře during the 1952 study in the Těšín region. These encounters influenced Eben’s style in arranging the songs, and some of their stories are documented below. It is significant to note that Eben’s primary goal in the arrangment of these songs was the communication of text. He does not alter the folk tunes themselves in his arrangements, but adds his own inventions and incorporates many interesting compositional devices in the piano accompaniments, which reflect the meaning of the text, and in some cases add subtext. The technique of composition was secondary.69

4.1: “Hej, koło Tšina”

River Song

1. Około Ciešyna, je tam cestečka. A na tej cestečce, stoji džiyvečka. Stoji, stoji, učosano, jak by była malovano, džiyvčynka moja, džiyvčynka moja. 2. A jo se ji pytoł, čy by mě chčiała. A ona mi na to rynčki podała. Ojcově se dozvědžieli, zaroz po nas pijechali, bylo věšeli, bylo věšeli.

68 Ibid.

69 David Eben, interview.

3. A potym žech dostoł kožuch na šviynta. Co něboščyk staik pos v nim čielynta. Kdyby byli staik žyli, to by byli v nim chodžili, jo by nimioł nic, jo by nimioł nic.70

1. Hey, around Těšín, there is a path on which a maiden stands. She stands all dressed up as if she were painted like a bride, hey, just like a bride. 2. So I asked her if she would be mine, and she gave me her little hands in reply. Her parents learned about our courtship and they came right away. We all shared in good cheer. 3. Then they gave me a wedding coat that my late grandfather wore while herding in the cattle. If grandfather were still alive he would be wearing this coat now, and not me. I would be left wearing nothing at all! Hey, I would not have anything on at all!71

The melody and rhythm of this folksong come from the Mazur dance of Poland, specifically from the Mazury region around the Mazur Lakes. This energetic song was sung at weddings and is therefore an example of a Moravian-Silesian wedding song. The key of C Major was a popular key for “river” songs. People danced while singing it in 3/4 meter with the accent on the first beat. It is a song of celebration, reminiscent of the opening wedding scene of Zerlina and Masetto from Act One of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Eben offsets the accentuation of the rhythm of the dialect in his accompaniments by adding grace notes leading to accents on weak beats. The syncopation provides the song with a celebrative and improvised quality. To sing this song well, the performer should practice with physical movement, beer in hand, stomping on downbeats. Eben marks the song allegro accentato and reiterates this in his use of accent marks, staccati, and sfz in the left hand on the downbeat of each phrase. It is interesting to note that while the piano

70 Barbora Baronová, “Tĕšín Songs,” personal e-mail, 20 September 2008. These are translations by Barbora Baronová into an authentic form of the po našimu dialect. They are to be used as a reference and comparison guide to the transliterated texts in the score of Písně z Těšínska. 71 These are translations of the texts by Matthew Markham and are recommended for use in recital programs. A word-for-word translation may be found in Appendix A.

accompaniment contains rich chromaticism, dissonances, syncopation, and colorful harmonies, the folk tune remains diatonic. The rhymed couplets of the folk poem provide a firm musical structure with two eight-bar phrases. Eben chose for the song three verses arranged in strophic form. The musical score does not include a piano introduction; however, Eben improvised an opening four bar phrase on the piano in his performances of this piece. The improvised introduction contains material that is not repeated later in the song. With an ambiguous tonality and a jaunty rhythmic structure beginning on the dominant and not landing on the tonic until the second measure of the folk tune, Eben sets up the folksong with a surprising introduction. A transcription of the improvised piano introduction used in performances with baritone Ivan Kusnjer is shown below.72 It is recommended that this piano introduction be used in concert although it is not included in the published score.

Figure 4.1: “Hej, koło Těšina” unpublished piano introduction.

72 Katharine Ball, “Hej, koło Těšína.” Transcription of piano introduction, April 2009, University of Mich igan: Ann Arbor, Michigan.

4.2: “Ten Tšinsky mostek”

River Song

1. Tyn ciešynski mostek ogibo se a po nim vodžička rozlyvo se, ach, jaja, tralalala, a po nim vodžička rozlyvo se. 2. Čymu mě tatulku něrad močie, že vy mě na vojne vysyłoče, ach, jaja, tralalala, že vy mě na vojne vysyłočie. 3. Něvysyłajčie mě, pujdym jo sum, šiednym na kunička, bedym husar, ach, jaja, tralalala, šiednym na kunička, bedym husar. 4. Tyn branny kuniček mě poněšie a švarno džievucha pituli šie, ach, jaja, tralalala, a švarno džievucha pituli šie. 5. Co branny kuniček, to podstata, co švarno džievucha, to utrata, ach, jaja, tralalala, co švarno džievucha, to utrata.

1. The bridge in Těšín bows and water flows under it. Ah, yes, tra-la-la-la-la, the water flows under it. 2. Why, my good father, are you so unhappy with me that you send me away to serve in the army? 3. No need to send me, I will go of my own accord. I will saddle a horse and be a hussar. 4. The mighty horse will carry me safely away and the fair maiden will remember me and keep me in her heart. 5. A mighty horse can bring one safety but a beautiful maiden will always bring heartache.

This is an example of a military song. Such songs were sung when young men were sent off to war. The man going off to war sings about his family, beloved, parents, best friend, and horse–the mark of safety and heroism. The song usually tells about a maiden who will wait for him until the end of the war.

Eben structures this song in ABA form with the lyrical A section in the key of D Major. The first interval in the accompaniment is a surprising augmented second (D to E-sharp) in the right hand of the opening measure and is atypical of the D Major scale. Another atypical note of D Major that is found in the piano accompaniment of this song is the frequent use of G- sharp. These altered notes of a raised second and raised fourth suggest a folk derived mode, rather than a standard church mode. The B section modulates to the key of B-flat Major and is rhythmically contrasting to the A section. The heroic and militant B section incorporates a polonaise dance rhythm in 3/4 meter that recurs throughout the following two verses. The polonaise rhythm is shown below in the right hand of the piano part.

Figure 4.2: “Ten Těšinsky mostek” measures 25-29.

The polonaise rhythm continues into the third verse of the B section, underscoring the folk tune.

Figure 4.3: “Ten Těšinsky mostek” measures 42-44.

At the return of the A section, Eben modulates back to the key of D Major with a simpler accompaniment consisting of a descending motive that alternates between the right and left hands. This simple accompaniment enables the text to be the dominating focus since here, the moral of the story is told–a maiden will always bring heartache. Resolving with pedal points throughout the final two systems on a sustained low D, the piano accompaniment echoes the modal sounds of the raised second (E-sharp) in the right hand resolves to a D-Major chord. The solitary D is reiterated in the left hand, signifying the loneliness of the young man at war.

4.3: “Tam z tej strony jeźora”

Mountain Song

1. Tam z tej struny ježiora, stoji lipka želuno, ej, stoji, stoji lipinka želuno a na ni sum ptoškovie. 2. Ej něsum to ptoškově, sum to kavalirově, rozmovjajum šie o švarnej džievuše, kjeremu šie dostaně. 3. Jedyn pravi “Bydžie mo”, a tyn drugi “Jak Bug do”, ej a tyn teči “Ty moje serduško, šak ty bedžieš yny mo.”

1. On the yonder side of the lake there stands a linden tree. Hey, there stands a linden tree and up inside it nests some little warbling birds. 2. Hey, but they are not just little warblers, they are cavaliers. They are singing about a beautiful maiden and which one of them is about to marry her. 3. The first one says, “She will be mine!” The second one says, “God will decide.” The third one says, “Hey, she is already my sweetheart and I know she will be only mine.”

This is a popular folk tune from the Bílé Karpaty (White Karpaty) mountain range of Moravia. It is an example of a Moravian-Silesian love song. Symbolism in Těšín

folksong is not Romantic or philosophical in the Germanic sense, but rather straightforward, often equating lovers to birds and the heartshaped leaves of the linden tree to the hearts of the lovers, as in the case of this folksong. This folk tune is in A mixolydian. The mixolydian mode is typical of many mountain songs.73 The piano introduction seems to be bitonal with F Major in the left hand and A Major in the right hand. It is not until the sixth measure of the piece, with the entrance of the voice part, that a firm tonality is established. Eben uses rhythm and texture to delineate the characters of this piece. The light texture of the staccati in the accompaniment represents the chattering of the birds. When the beautiful girl and the linden tree are being described, Eben changes the texture to a more legato accompaniment in thirds and in octaves in both hands in the piano part. Eben also changes the rhythm of the accompaniment with the commentary of each bird. When the third bird concludes, “Ty moje serdečko, šak ty benděs enem ma” (she is already my sweetheart and I know she will be only mine), Eben stops the flow of the accompaniment altogether by writing whole note chords. He clearly marks forte and then piano for the two parts of the third bird’s final sentiment. The stark dynamic contrast and rhythmic diversity are typical style characteristics of Eben. The arrangement ends on the dominant after the piano postlude recapitualizes the chattering of the birds with light staccati in an ascending flurry of triads (measure 23). The excerpt below shows this clear delineation of character with the sudden changes in texture and dynamics.

73 Rokyta, interview.

Figure 4.4: “Tam z tej strony jeźora” measures 19-26.

4.4: “V zelenym hajičku”

River Song

1. V želunym hajičku, v želunym rubali, kumu mě zostaviš synečku kochany? 2. Zostaviym jo čie tymu, co je z něba a za roček za dva pijadym po čiebie. 3. A jak něpijadym, bedym listy pisač a ty jednak mušiš mojum miłum zostač.

1. In a green grove there are trees that have been cut down for wood. Oh, tell me, who will watch over me while you are gone, my own true love? 2. I will commend you to him who dwells in Heaven. In a year or two, I will return and be with you again.

3. If I do not come back, I will write you letters. You must love me still.

Nature is a key element in this sad Moravian-Silesian love song. The color green is often used to represent growth, rebirth, or a resting place. In addition, the opening reference to the “trees that have been cut down for wood” might be symbolic of a coffin. Barbora Baronová informs the author that she believes a dark and tragic subtext underlines the imminent sadness of this folksong.74 A foreshadowing of events to come– death and the writing of letters to the beloved who is far away–underlines the obscure piano introduction of the otherwise seemingly sweet and lyrical folk melody. The opening four bar piano introduction is in 7/8 meter, which is not used anywhere else in the folksong. Once again the key is ambiguous and full of chromaticism until the voice part enters in the fifth measure. Eben structures this folksong uniquely with repeated parts of the verses, adding to the ominous sentiment of the folk text. The song includes syncopation, meter changes, chromaticism, and a descending bass line typical of composers of the Baroque to signify death. The piano introduction and first verse is shown below, revealing the syncopation of the voice part against the piano accompaniment, descending bass line, and repeated structure.

74 Baronová, personal e-mail.

Figure 4.5: “V zelenym hajičku” measures 1-15.

Kochany, (milovaný in the Czech language), means beloved. This is a strong dialect word used in the first verse of this folk text. This word is included with eighteen other dialect words in a glossary at the back of the musical score of Písně z Těšínska. Eben met a young man on his 1952 study in the Těšín region who sang this folk tune for him. The man explained to Eben that his wife had died one year ago and this folksong meant something very special to him. While he sang the tune his body swayed on the offbeats, which Eben shows in the syncopation of his accompaniment. During the last verse of the song the singer “bent” one note, which Eben recreates in the last verse of his arrangement with a B-flat as opposed to the B-natural of the previous verses. This is shown in the example below.

Figure 4.6: “V zelenym hajičku” measures 23-24.

It is interesting to note that one year after the 1952 study in Těšín, Eben learned that the young man who had sung this folk tune had died an unexpected and tragic death.75

75 Rokyta, interview.

4.5: “Dolina, dolina”

Mountain Song

1. Dolina, dolina, a v dolině sosna, poviydz mi, džievucho, do kogo urosła. 2. Urosłach, urosłach, ale ni do čiebie, do tego synečka, co z vojny pijedžie. 3. Pijedžie, pijedžie na brannym kuničku, podkovjynki złote, šablička na boku. 4. Džievucho, džievucho, porachuj se sobie, věla jo chodničkuv nachodžił ku tobie! 5. Kdybyžech jo miała chodnički rachovač, musiała bych jo se pisaička chovač. 6. Pisaička chovač, papiur mu kupovač, něstarčylo by mi ani na jedyn rok.

1. Down in the valley there is a pine tree. Tell me fair maid, for whom are you growing? 2. Indeed, I am growing, but not for you. Rather I am growing because of the armed lad who has been at war. 3. He will return on a mighty horse with golden horseshoes and with a sword at his side. 4. Fair maid of mine, try to count the many paths I have trodden to find you. 5. Were I to add them all up, I would need a scribe just for this task alone. 6. I would have to keep a scribe and buy the lad all the paper he needs. Then I would spend all that I have from you in less than one year.

This Mountain song represents another type of Moravian-Silesian love song. This song is a dispute between a man and a woman. The woman is still in love with her partner who has gone off to war and who has not returned for at least nine months. The reference to “growing” means that the young woman is pregnant. The current boyfriend questions her pregnancy for fear that the woman has been unfaithful to him. Alas, it is a folk text based upon love and betrayal. The importance of musical stucture, for which Eben credits his first composition teacher Pavel Borcovec, provides Eben the impetus for arranging this folksong.76 The

76 David Eben, interview.

technique of theme and variation allows Eben to delineate the shifting emotionally charged interjectory remarks of the disputing lovers throughout this folksong. The beginning of each verse is shown below.

Figure 4.7: “Dolina, dolina” measures 6, 13, 18-20, 27-28, 33-34, and 37-38.

The technique of theme and variation holds the folksong together in terms of rhythm, but in terms of tonality, the piece is in ABA form. Beginning in E Major, modulating to E minor, and returning to E Major, Eben makes use of rich chromaticism and numerous tritones, which heighten the tension between the quarreling lovers. A flourish of quintuplets, extreme dynamic contrasts, sfz, and dotted rhythms are indicative of the fast changing emotions and explanations proclaimed by the man and woman. The piano accompaniment is very active and requires great technical facility in order to execute the large chords and specific markings, which range legato, staccato, marcato, scherzando, and cover a wide range of the keyboard. This expansive song is the most operatic in scope of all the folksongs in Písně z Těšínska and requires the most diverse color palatte and technical skill for both singer and pianist. The final resolution in E Major follows three highly dissonant chords arranged in pairs as shown in the example below. A pair of slurred chords stated three times as shown in the excerpt below perhaps might represent the characters of the song.

Figure 4.8: “Dolina, dolina” measures 44-46.

4.6: “V nedli rano”

River Song

1. V nědžiele rano, v niedžiele rano drobny dešč pado, moja nejmilejšo, moja nejmilejšo krovy vygaňo, moja nejmilejšo, moja nejmilejšo krovy vygaňo. 2. Ty pujdžieš gurum, ty pujdžieš gurum a jo dolinum, ty zakvitnieš ružum, ty zakvitnieš ružum a jo malinum, ty zakvitnieš ružum, ty zakvitnieš ružum a jo malinum. 3. Ty pujdžieš gurum, ty pujdžieš gurum a jo gospodum, ty beješ pannum, ty beješ pannum a jo młodžiencym, ty beješ pannum, ty beješ pannum a jo młodžiencym.

1. The rain is falling lightly on a Sunday morning. My own betrothed is out to herd the cattle again. 2. You will go by hill and I will go by valley. You will blossom as a rose and I will be the berry. 3. You will go back by hill and I will stop off at the pub. You will return as a maid and I will remain a bachelor.

The title of this song might be amended to read “V nedělu rano” (not v neděli) because this is the Moravian ending of that word. This is an example of a Moravian- Silesian dancing song. Apart from the more generic dances (waltzes, polkas), a dance

that is linked to north Moravia is the starodavný. It is a triple meter dance that uses triplet figures and dotted rhythms, and is related to the mazurka or the krakowiak. Janáček called this dance the starodávný (old-time) in his writings on Lachian folk music from the Lachian region just south of Těšín.77 The dance is in 3/4 meter. Women would often wear white dresses for this dignified dance. Even though it is a dancing song, an underlying mystery pervades this folksong. This is a beautiful poetic representation of sexual intercourse symbolized by the rose and berry. The secrecy and urgency with which the secretive lovers are plotting their meeting over the hill and by way of the valley is reflected in the relentless, breathless piano accompaniment. While the folk tune is based upon the starodávný, Eben’s arrangment of the piano part to reflect the rain falling implies anything but a merry dance. The third verse of the folk poem tells the imminent separation of the lovers after intercourse: she will return to her home and he will have a drink at the local pub. Eben changes the texture of the piano accompaniment abruptly at the start of the third verse. The accompaniment is now full of syncopation and rhythmic accents contrasting greatly to the “rain” accompaniment of the first two verses. The musical example below shows the dotted rhythm of the starodavný in the 3/4 meter folk tune against the light texture of the running sixteenth-note repeated figure representing the rainfall.

Figure 4.9: “V neděli rano” measures 9-11.

77 Jesse Johnston, “Re: Folk Institute in Brno,” personal e-mail, 3 March 2009.

The following musical example shows the stark contrast of the third verse. Note that while we are still in 3/4 meter, the accompaniment has shifted to the middle register and is full of syncopation and an overall heavier, bitter mood even though the folk tune retains the rhythm of the starodavný. The arrangement ends with a climax to ff, quite contrasting to the light texture at the beginning of the piece.

Figure 4.10: “V neděli rano” measures 24-30.

4.7: “Ja vm o ptaškovi”

River Song

1. Jo viym o ptoškovi v lešie, jo viym o ptoškovi v lešie, malovane vajca něšie, malovane vajca něšie. 2. Jedno biołe, drugi šare, jedno biołe, drugi šare, kany inšy roz džeuchi stare, kany inšy roz džeuchi stare. 3. A v yce sum młodušinki, a v yce sum młodušinki, majum gymby słodušinki, majum gymby słodušinki. 4. Jo juž jednum pocałowoł, jo juž jednum pocałowoł, ti dni žech se oblizovoł, ti dni žech se oblizovoł.

1. I know about the bird in the forest. It lays beautifully colored eggs. 2. One is white, the second pale. You better try to go somewhere else old maids. 3. Here in eka, the young maidens dwell, and they have very sweet and tender mouths. 4. I have already kissed one, and for three days I have been smacking my lips.

This is an example of a Moravian-Silesian ceremonial dance song. It is a comic song about a man who really prefers young women. He is young and handsome and is able to choose the most beautiful girl for himself. He is boastful and wants to tell everybody about his success with the young girls. The original folk tune was danced to the polonaise, but Eben arranged the song with a depiction of birds in the piano part with an alternating meter of 3/4 and 6/8 to match the rhythm of the dialect.78 The group of 4 eighth notes followed by the group of two eighth notes gives the song a comedic character aptly marked giocoso. Eben sets the first half of the song with both hands playing in treble clef. This lightness of timbre symbolizes the character of the birds and the flirtation of the young man with the young maidens.

78 Rokyta, interview.

Figure 4.11: “Ja věm o ptaškovi” measures 1-4.

The second example is representative of a typical Bohemian folksong melody, ending on the third of the chord rather than the root. River songs were sometimes influenced by the Bohemian folksong.

Figure 4.12: “Ja věm o ptaškovi” measures 44-47.

Special notes about this song: 1. Gembe is a dialectal word meaning “mouth.” 2. There is a wrong note in the musical score on the top of page 22. The last eighth notes in the right hand of measure 16 should be E and D, not E and C.

4.8: “Litali, litali dva holubci mali”

Mountain Song

1. Lotali, lotali, dvo gołumbcy mali, dživała se jim nadobno džiyvečka, dživała se jim oběma. 2. Či gołumbcy mali, gňiozdečko se słali, dživała se jim nadobno džiyvečka, dživała se jim oběma. 3. A z tej piyrvšej struny, błavatek žieluny, dživała se jim nadobno džiyvečka, dživała se jim oběma. 4. A z tej drugi struny, stebelečko słumy, dživała se jim nadobno džiyvečka, dživała se jim oběma.

1. The two pigeons flew around, and a beautiful maiden saw them. 2. The pigeons were making a nest, and the maiden started to watch. 3. On one side there was a green leaf; the beautiful maiden was staring. 4. On the other side she saw a long stem of straw; the maiden watched both of them.

This is an erotic Moravian-Silesian folk tune using only six pitches and is in the mixolydian mode. Eben uses a motivic compositional device typical of Janáček in the piano introduction. A motive is given in the first measure and then sped up twice as fast in the following measures. The motive represents pigeons flying around the two lovers. This motive can also be seen in the bass clef throughout the arrangement. This Janáček influence can be seen in the works of many 20th century Czech composers. Note in the examples below, the use of the Janáček motivic device in the right hand of the piano introduction in measures 1-3 and in the left hand in measures 6-9.

Figure 4.13: “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” measures 1-9.

This folksong is full of erotic symbols representing the first sexual act between two young lovers. The role of the couple is typical where the innocent virgin behaves passively and the boy is represented in the folk text with the shape of a sword, straw, or sabre. The green bud is symbolic of the mature girl who is still a virgin. The young

maiden is dreaming of the day she, too, will find true love. The folksong is told from the perspective of the young maiden who is witnessing the two young lovers. Jan Rokyta informs the author that Eben did not choose the most beautiful tune for this folk text. There are many other versions that other composers have arranged; however, he feels that Eben’s musical characteristics in this arrangement are a mark of genius.79 The interlude between the two verses and final resolution after the climax at the end of the arrangement is indicative of Eben’s use of chromaticism and harmony to heighten the dramatic aspects of a work. Eben ends the folksong on the dominant in the piano accompaniment. The example below shows the interlude between verses one and two. The use of chromaticism and ascending intervals is indicative of the onlooker’s state of revery. Eben reveals subtext in his interludes, piano introductions, and postludes.

Figure 4.14: “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” measures 10-13.

4.9: “vt marny”

River Song

1. Šviečie, šviečie, šviečie marny, šviečie, šviečie, šviečie marny, odešeł mi synek švarny, odešeł mi synek švarny. 2. Kozoł se mi nezarmucač, kozoł se mi nezarmucač, že se ješče može vručič, že se ješče može vručič.

79 Rokyta, interview.

3. Jo se rmučič něbedym, jo se rmučič něbedym, inšego se hledač bedym, inšego se hledač bedym. 4. Co bedžie mioł gury, lasy, co bedžie mioł gury, lasy, štyry kuně, dvě kolasy, štyry kuně, dvě kolasy. 5. A bičisko z papručiny a bičisko z papručiny, něbedžieš ty, bedžie inny, něbedžeš ty, bedžie inny.

1. Vain world, go away. The handsome boy has left for eternity. 2. He told me not to weep in sorrow, that he might return. 3. I will not grieve the loss, but rather seek another. 4. The new one will have mountains, forests, four horses, and two carriages. 5. There will also be a whip that is made of fern. Yes, now that you are gone, there will be another one.

This folksong originates from the lowlands and is therefore typical of river songs that have been influenced by Bohemian character. Rokyta assumes we could find its original version in some hymnbook from the middle of the 19th century with its strophic form.80 The formal structure of the folk poem is in four parts, enabling Eben to structure the song musically to match. With a demanding piano stylization, Eben uses rhythm and syncopation to vary the verses. The song has a dramatic quality and is characterized by strong thematic material as well as varied rhythms and changing meter. Eben met an old peasant man who was singing this song in a Těšín village. The man was sitting in front of his house holding a stick. While he sang the folksong he used his stick to tap the offbeats in syncopation with his melody. For Eben, this was of major importance because he incorporated the rhythm in the arrangment of this song. According to David Eben, the Těšín region inspired his father to write rhythmically accented and harmonically courageous accompaniments and sharp dissonances.81 Shifting from 9/8 to 6/8 to 6/4 to 7/4 and returning to 6/4, Eben incorporates his

80 Rokyta, interview.

81 David Eben, interview.

trademark of rhythmic vitality to match the meaning of the text in that the lover will not stop and grieve, but rather move on to another love. Five excerpts from this folksong show Eben’s use of rhythmic variation with the beginning of each of the five verses. The folk tune remains the same, whereas the piano accompaniments differ.

Figure 4.15: “Śvětě marny” measures 1-6, 16-20, 31-32, 35-37, and 43-45.

4.10: “Za gorum, za vodum”

Mountain Song

1. Za gorum, za vodum, miešiunček vychodži, rada bych viedžiała, kdžie muj miły chodži. 2. Včora obiecovoł, že tu věčur pidžie, abych go čakała, až miešiunček vyndžie. 3. Miešiunček juž vyšeł, muj miły něpišeł, však un juž napevno, však un za inšum šeł.

1. Beyond the mountain and beyond the water, the moon is rising. I would like to know where my beloved is tarrying. 2. Yesterday he promised me that he would come back this evening. He told me that I should wait for him when the moon was nigh. 3. The moon is now up above, but my beloved has not returned. I can be sure of it, to another has he gone.

This folksong is an example of a Moravian-Silesian love song. Typical of many “mountain” songs, this folk tune incorporates only six scale degrees. There are songs in Těšín folk culture that capture beautifully the sound of the folk cimbalom. Eben captures this sound in the piano introduction. The interval of a tritone–approached by an octave leap, or the interval of a twelfth–in the second measure, is a characteristic of both Eben and of Moravian music.82 To obtain the sound quality of the folk cimbalom in the piano introduction to this folksong, it is suggested that the pianist use the sustaining pedal and allow the notes to blend into one another. The example below represents Eben’s compositional technique of recreating the sounds of this instrument.

82 Rokyta, interview.

Figure 4.16: “Za gorum, za vodum” measures 1-6.

In transcribing this folksong Eben tells of a moving experience.

We [Eben and Indra] met an old peasant woman who had not sung since the death of her husband forty years ago. After much thought she agreed to accompany us to a nearby meadow where she took care of goats. She began singing and I transcribed the melodies. At the time there were no gramophones and the older people did not have the physical capability to repeat the songs many times so I listened to it once or twice and then transcribed what I heard. The old woman began to remember many songs and she was very surprised that she still knew the melodies and words. We sat there the entire day while she sang songs taught to her by her ancestors. It was getting late in the evening and she was still singing when I could see the moon. She sang until she almost lost her voice. I had to wait for a cloud to roll away so that the moonlight could guide my pen and I could see what I was transcribing. The clouds dissipated and what remained was something of the blackest night I have ever seen. The old woman wanted to sing a final folksong and I remember the clear sky and how the moon was shining as she started to sing: “Za gorum, za vodum, mešonček vychodi…”83

The piano interlude after the second verse becomes quite dramatic, contrapuntal, chromatic, and harmonically ambigious after the simplicity of the opening verses. This interlude captures a state of the soul where there is confusion, expectation of the lover returning, the pain, and the realization that he will not return.84 The interlude is very organ-like in the way the pianist must use finger substitutions to maintain a legato line. The bass part of the piano accompaniment is also indicative of writing for organ pedals.

83 Petr Eben, radio broadcast.

84 David Eben, interview.

It is a contrapuntal echo of his religious influence.85 The example below shows these compositional characteristics.

Figure 4.17: “Za gorum, za vodum” measures 33-42.

A model for this song was made on Czech broadsheet print, which was a part of Czech folk culture appearing at the beginning of the 17th century. This extensive ballad was spread throughout the Czech regions and varied by different folkgroups. By the 19th century it was a well-known folksong throughout the Moravian-Silesian mountain area. The song in this collection proves the influence of broadsheet singing in the Těšín region.86 The song “Za gorum, za vodum” follows the original broadsheet text quite accurately; however, in the song’s text there are strong dialectal features. Eben’s use of haromic progression is interesting and inventive in this folksong. The arrangement begins in B-flat Major and shifts to G minor just before the extended

85 Cheek, interview.

86 Rokyta, interview.

and harmonically adventurous interlude between the second and third verses. The third verse begins in G minor and through a succession of running eighth notes in perfect fourths, tritones, and thirds, the folk tune ends on the dominant; however, Eben cadences the arrangement on the supertonic, ending on an A Major chord. This surprising resolution adds another poignant layer of subtext to this beautiful folksong.

4.11: “Pannky se chłubjum”

River Song

1. Paněnky se chvolum, že jich syncy kochajum a syncy se šmiejum, že svodzač umium. 2. O moje paněnky, něchvolčie se, prošym, bo jo vum zašpiyvum, jyny posłuchač prošym. 3. Ku jednej se šiednym, na drugum se podživum, teci muwiym do pusy, čvortum ješče chcym. 4. Piuntum pieknie poščiskum, šustej dum puse, šiudmej listy pišym a z usmum głupnym. 5. Džieviuntej to muviym, že jum mum rod sčee, džiešiunto zawidži, až to nima možne. 6. Jedynostum šidzym, svodzum na pemiany, od dvanostej panny ježech ukochany.

1. The maidens are boasting of the lads they love. The lads are laughing about the girls whom they have seduced. 2. Dear girls of mine, stop your boasting, listen to the song I am singing to you. 3. I will sit by the first girl, the second I will behold, the third I will flirt with, and the fourth I will beg. 4. I will snuggle with the fifth girl, kiss the sixth, write letters to the seventh, and trifle with the eighth. 5. To the ninth girl I will say that she is the one for me, and the tenth girl–how jealous she will be. 6. I will cheat on the eleventh, yet entice her all the more, but the twelfth girl–she will be my love–fair and true.

This folksong is the “Champagne Aria” from Těšín.87 This jocular “river” song is in C Major and full of rhythmic vitality. The text is a popular nursery rhyme taught to Těšín schoolchildren, although its text is flirtatious in nature. In order to be closer to the character of the nursery rhyme, Eben used alternating 2/8 and 3/8 bars. In Bohemian and Moravian-Silesian folksong tradition there is a similar principle called mateník, which is the alternation of 2/8 and 3/8 bars. The alternating meter with chromatically ascending and descending chords permeates the entire six-versed modified strophic song. This piece is an example of Eben having fun with melodic repetition and rhythmic vitality, while cleverly incorporating traditional compositional techniques. Between the second and third verse, he writes an interlude of 14 bars of a dominant progression to the new key of D-flat Major. Instead of writing a change of key signature, he marks accidentals throughout the next two verses, which are an exact repetition of the opening verses with the exception that the entire piece is now one half step higher. The second interlude modulates from D-flat Major back to C Major, with the incorporation of a canon. This can be seen in the example below.

87 Kusnjer, interview.

Figure 4.18: “Paněnky se chłubjum” measures 52-75.

The word chłubjum is a Czech literary word and it does not belong to the dialect. Eben used it in the first verse only because of the rhyme scheme chłubjum – ljubjum. As is documented in the original written form of the dialect above, the rhyming dialectal words chvolum – kochajum are the authentically used words of the po našimu dialect. The final two verses round off the folksong in C Major, giving the piece a clear musical structure. Harkening back to his childhood days of making music in the home for sheer enjoyment and improvising and experimenting in the organ loft at Český Krumlov, Eben has fun with the coda of the eleventh folksong. He uses parallel ninths, and the rhythmic drive does not wane, but rather accelerates to a bright chord marked sffz.

Figure 4.19: “Paněnky se chłubjum” measures 76-99.

CONCLUSION

Písně z Těšínska is merely one culmination of work from a single year of Petr Eben’s life. While the authors of his biographies and professors of Moravian music claim that these songs are insubstantial in regard to his vast compositional output, this treatise proves the significance of this work not only in terms of the influence it had on many of his future compositions, but in preserving the folklore of the unique town of Tĕšín. These songs contain many of the hallmarks of Petr Eben’s compositional style: firm musical structure, rhythmic vitality, improvisatory techniques, adventurous harmonic progressions, and incorporation of modal writing. These Eben trademarks pair well with folk Moravian-Silesian musical tradition. These songs serve as a window into the folk culture of the Tĕšín region. Preserved within the folk tunes, texts, and Eben’s interestingly complex piano accompaniments, his folksong arrangments capture the spirit of this unique place. While other composers have arranged songs from Těšín, Eben’s arrangements represent a modern approach, while maintaining the authenticity of the melodies themselves. The songs from Tĕšín provide a wonderful introduction to Czech art song, and as Tučapský wrote the author, “should be better known.”88 Miroslav Kyjonka concludes in the Introduction to the Songbook of Folksongs from Těšín: “As I already noted in the beginning, this songbook will serve important and beautiful goals: to take advantage of the great wealth of songs left to us by our ancestors in order to enrich our present. I am certain that many will be surprised that such beauty arose in Těšín and you will convey it further. To you, my esteemed admirers of fine singing, in this I wish you much success.”89

88 Tučapský, personal e-mail.

89 Kyjonka, 4.

APPENDIX A

WORD­FOR­WORD TRANSLATIONS Compiled by Barbora Baronová and Matthew Markham

1. “Hej, koło Tšina” hej hey koło around Těšina Těšín je there is tam there cestečka a small path a and na on tej that cestečce small path stoji stands děvečka a girl stoji she stands ustrojena dressed jakby as if była she was malovana painted jako as dvorečka a courtyard a and jo I ji (ona) her (she) pytoł e I asked či if

by would (she) mě me chtěla want a and ona she mi to me (I) na to in response runčky her hand podava gave ojcově parents se dověděli heard zaraz immediately po for mě me (I) było it was věeli happy dostał žech I got ti for you potom after that kabot a coat na on věnta wedding co that neboščik deceased pos for v in něm it tělenta wore kdyby if byli was staik grandfather

žili alive to so by byli he would v in nim it chodili go about jo I by would něměł not have nic anything

2. “Ten Tšinsky mostek” ten that těšinsky Těšin´s mostek small bridge ogyba se bows a and po under něm it vodička water rozleva se flows ach ah jaja oh dear tralalala tralalala což why mě (with) me tak so tatíčku Daddy něrad matě are you unhappy že that vy you

mě me (I) na to vojnem military service, army, war vyiłatě send něvyiłajtě Don’t send mě me pujdem I’ll go ja I sam alone sednem sit na on konička horse bedem and will be husar a hussar ten this branny armed koniček horse mě me poněse will take a and švarno buxom děvucha girl pitiskně se will snuggle co the branny armed koniček horse to is podstata a prize co the švarno buxom děvucha girl to is utrata a waste

3. “Tam z tej strony jeźora” tam there z from tej that strony side jeźora of the lake stoji stands lipka a lime tree źelona green ej hey stoji it stands lipinka small lime tree a and na on ni it sum are ptaškově birdies ej hey něsum are not to those ptaškovie birdies sum are to those kavalirově cavaliers rozmovjajum e they talk o about švarnem a buxom děvčenťu girl kjeremu and who se dostaně will get (her) jeden one pravi says bedě she will be

ma mine a and ten the, that drugy second jak how bog God da decides ej hey a and ten the, that teti the third one ty you moje my serdečko sweetheart šak however ty you benděš will be enem only ma mine

4. “V zelenym hajičku” v in zelenym green hajičku grove, wood rubali they hewed komu to whom mě me zostaviš leave to synečku my love kochany darling, beloved zostavim I leave

ja I těbě you tomu to the one co who je is z from něbě heaven a and za in roček a year za in dva two pijedu I will come pro for tebě you a and jak if něpijedem I don’t come bedem pisať I will write listy letters a and ty you jednak nevertheless muiš must mojum my miłum lover zostať remain

5. “Dolina, dolina” dolina lowlands a and v in dolině the lowlands sosna pine tree poviz tell mně me děvucho girl, maiden dla for kogo whom urosła did you grow up urosłach I grew ale but ně not dla for těbě you dla for tego that synečka boy, sweetheart, beloved co that z from vojny war pijedě comes na on brannem armed koničku horse podkovjynky horseshoes złate golden šablička sword, saber na at boku waist děvucho girl, maiden

porachuj se count sobě you věla how many ja I chodničkuv way, path utlačił I have taken ku to tobě you dybych žech if ja I mjała have to chodničky way, path rachovať to count muela bych se have to ja I pisaička scribe, writer chovať keep papir paper mu for him kupovať to buy něstačiło by would not have enough mně I ani neither na for jeden one rok year

6. “V nedli rano” v on neděli sunday

rano morning drobny a small dešť rain pada is falling moja my nejmilejši most beloved krovy cow vygaňa to pasture ty you pujděš go gurum by hill a and ja I dolinum by valley ty you zakvitněš blossom out ružum as a rose malinum as a raspberry gostincem by the pub ty you buděš will be pannum maiden mładěncem young man, bachelor

7. “Ja vm o ptaškovi” ja I věm know o about ptaškovi birdie v in lee forest

malovane painted, decorated jajka eggs něě lays jedno one bjałe white druge the second šare pale kany try indy where děuchy girls stare old a and v in ece eka (15 km from a very beautiful village near Těšín) sum are młodušinky very young ones majum they have gembe mouths słodušinky very sweet ja I juž already jednu one pocalovał kissed ti three dni days ech e oblizovał I smacked my lips

8. “Litali, litali dva holubci mali” litali they flew dva two hołubci pigeons

mali small divała se looked at jim them nadobna beautiful děvečka girlie oběma both ti those gňazdečko nest se słali were making a and z from tej that pěrvej first strony side błavatek corn-flower źelony green a and z from tej that drugej the second strony side stebełečko stalk słomy straw

9. “vt marny”

větě world marny vain odešeł left mi my synek boy

švarny handsome kozoł e he commanded mi me nězarmutiť not to be sad kozoł e he commanded že that može he can ještě again se vrućiť to come back jo I e rmućiła něbedem do not grieve for innego another one si hledať bedem to look for co who bedźe měł to have gory mountains lasy forest štyry four kuně horses dvě two kolasy carriages a and bičisko whip z from papručiny fern něbenděš if ty you bendě were not inny another one

10. “Za gorum, za vodum” za beyond gorum the mountain za beyond vodum the water měonček moon vychodi rises rada bych I would like to věděła know kdě where muj my miły love chodi is walking včora yesterday mně to me lubovał he promised že that tu this věčor evening pijdě he would come abych and go for him čekała I waited až until měonček moon vyjdě to rise měonček moon juž already vzešeł to rise muj my miły love něpišeł didn’t come však but

on he juž already zajiste for sure však but on he za after jinši another girl šeł went

11. “Pannky se chłubjum” paněnky maidens, girls, virgins se chłubjum are boasting že that ich they chłapci boys, young men lubjum love a and se smějum can laugh, ridicule že that zvodiť to seduce umějum know o oh moje my něchlubtě se not to boast about proim please bo because ja I vam to you zazpivam am singing tylko just

słuchať listen proim please jedne the first one uendzem pi I sit by drugum the second one spoglundom na I look at tetěj the third one do into ust mouth młuvim I talk to čvartej the fourth ještě still žondam I want pjontum the fifth mile nicely ćisněm to snuggle šustum the sixth pocajułem to kiss šudmej the seventh listy letters pišem I write a and s with vosmum the eighth žartujem to trifle děvjontej the ninth to it młuvim tell že that jum she kocham I love ščie very truly děšonta the tenth

zazdrošti is jealous až so much to it nima is not k to vie believe nima k vie hard to believe jedenaste the eleventh idźim to cheat svodzem to seduce na for pemjany change od since dvanaste the twelfth panny virgin, maiden jestem to be ukochany in love, darling

APPENDIX B

RECORDINGS OF NATIVE SPEAKERS SPEAKING THE FOLK TEXTS

Boleslav Slováček - Male Dagmar Szturcová - Female

“Hej, koło Tšina” Male Female

“Ten Tšinsky mostek” Male Female

“Tam z tej strony jeźora” Male Female

“V zelenym hajičku” Male Female

“Dolina, dolina” Male Female

“V nedli rano” Male Female

“Ja vm o ptaškovi” Male Female

“Litali, Litali dva holubci mali” Male Female

“vt marny” Male Female

“Za gorum, za vodum” Male Female

“Pannky se chłubjum” Male Female

“Ten Tšinsky mostek”

Excerpt:

Což m tak, tatičku, nrad mat, že vy m na vojnem vysiłat, ach, jaja, tralalala, že vy m na vojnem vysiłat

Boleslav Slováček - Tšín native/authentic Tĕšín dialect Dagmar Szturcová - Tšín native/authentic Tĕšín dialect Ivan Kusnjer - Czech living in Prague/familiar with Tšín dialect Renata Utíkal - Czech living in Tšín/speaks the Tšín dialect Roman Grycz - Pole living in Tšín/speaks the Tšín dialect

“Za gorum, za vodum”

Excerpt:

Včora mn lubovał, že tu včor pijd, abych go čekała, až monček vzjd

Boleslav Slováček - Tšín native/authentic Tĕšín dialect Dagmar Szturcová - Tšín native/authentic Tĕšín dialect Ivan Kusnjer - Czech living in Prague/familiar with Tšín dialect Renata Utíkal - Czech living in Tšín/speaks the Tšín dialect Roman Grycz - Pole living in Tšín/speaks the Tšín dialect

APPENDIX C

TŠÍN FILM DOCUMENTARY

APPENDIX D

A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EBEN’S WORKS FOR SOLO VOICE

Šestero piesní milostných (Six Old-time Love Songs), 1951, with Czech, English, German, Italian and French medieval texts from the twelfth through fourteenth centuries. Only the first song is in Czech. For low voice and piano; or voice, piano, and harp; or voice and harp. Duration: 14′30′′ Premier in Prague, May 1951. Publisher: Supraphon. CD – Signum.

Missa adventus et quadragesimae (Mass for the coming of Lent), 1951-52, for male solo voice or mixed choir and organ. Duration: 15′

Písnĕ k loutně (Songs with Lute), 1951. Six songs with medieval and Renaissance texts for medium voice and lute, guitar, or harp. Three are in Czech, the rest in English, French, and German. Duration: 10′ Publisher: Supraphon – Bärenreiter Verlag. CD – Signum.

Písně nejtajnější (The Most Secret Songs), 1952. Nine songs for low male voice. Four are with Czech translations of Persian mystics, one with text by Petr Eben, and the rest with poetry of Czech writers. Duration: 15′ Publisher: Bärenreiter Editio Supraphon Praha. CD – Signum.

Písně z Těšínska (Songs from Těšín), 1952. Eleven folksongs to Moravian-Silesian folk texts for low voice. Duration: 20′ Publisher: Bärenreiter Editio Supraphon Praha. CD – Signum.

Nursery Songs, 1953, with Czech and English medieval texts. For soprano and piano. Duration: 4′ CD – Signum.

Hudba k Rytirske Veselohre (Music for the Knight of Veselohra), 1953, for wind instruments, guitar, viola and actor or singer.

Tři tiché písně (Three Quiet Songs), 1955, for soprano, flute, and piano. Poems written by František Halas. Duration: 6′ Publisher: Český hudebni fond.

Liturgicke zpevy (Liturgical Songs), 1955-60, for solo voice or unison choir and organ. Ten songs in the form of antiphons and psalms. Publishers: Bärenreiter Verlag, Moravske hudebni vydavatelstvi. CDs- selections on Signum, Rottenburger, and Antiphona.

Piano jde do sveta (The Piano Goes into the World), 1960, for solo voice and five instruments. Duration: 13′ Publisher: Panton.

Písně na slova R.M. Rilkého (Songs on Words of Rainer Maria Rilke), 1961, set to original German, for mezzo-soprano or baritone. Duration: 13′ Publisher: Deutscher Verlag. CD – Signum.

Písně nelaskavě (Unkind Songs), 1963. Six songs for alto and viola. Eben also wrote a version for an ensemble of violas and voice. Poems written by Zuzana Rencova. Duration: 14′ Publisher: Panton. CD – Signum.

Malé smutky (Little sorrows), 1964-65. Five songs for medium voice and piano. Duration: 7′ Publisher: Supraphon. CD – Signum.

Jestli já půjdu první (If I Go First), 1966, for low voice and piano. Duration: 3’20”

Árie Ruth (Song of Ruth), 1970, an Old Testament text, for alto and organ or piano. In 1997, Petr Eben arranged the songs for voice and wind quintet. Duration: 5′45′′ Publisher: Universal Edition. CDs – Supraphon, Bonton, Opus B, and Signum.

Písně na slova Miroslava Floriana (Songs on the Words of Miroslav Florian), 1970. Six songs for tenor and piano. Duration: 11′ Premier: February 21, 1970, in Prague.

Písničky medvídka Pú (Little Songs of Pooh Bear), 1976. Six songs for voice and guitar to Czech translations (and possibly original English) of A.A. Milne texts. Duration: 7′ Premier: October 16, 1976, in Prague.

Poselství (Message), 1981. For baritone or mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Duration: 4′30′′ Premier: January 8, 1982 in Magdeburg, Germany.

Železně Boty (Iron Shoes), 1983, for solo voice and instrumental ensemble.

De nomine Caeciliae (From the Name of Caeciliae), 1994, for mezzo-soprano or baritone and organ. Poems by Tomas Kempensky. Duration: 6′30′′ Publisher: Pro organo. CD – Signum.

APPENDIX E

APPROVAL FORMS AND CONSENT LETTERS

April 1, 2009

Bärenreiter Music Corporation c/o Schott/European American Music 254 West 31st Street New York, NY 10001 Attn: Jessica Rauch

Dear Bärenreiter Music Corporation:

This letter will confirm my recent e-mail exchange with George Sturm. I am completing a doctoral treatise at Florida State University entitled “An Exploration of Písně z Těšínska of Petr Eben.“ I would like your permission to reprint in my treatise short excerpts (two or three measures) from a few of the songs, Eben’s opening remarks about the songs with an English translation, and the folk texts with English translation.

The requested permission extends to any future revisions and editions of my dissertation, including non-exclusive world rights in all languages, and to the prospective publication of my treatise by UMI Company. These rights will in no way restrict republication of the material in any other form by you or by others authorized by you. Your signing of this letter will also confirm that Bärenreiter owns the copyright to the above-described material.

If these arrangements meet with your approval, please sign this letter where indicated below and return it to me in the enclosed return envelope. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Matthew Markham

PERMISSION GRANTED FOR THEUSE REQUESTED ABOVE:

Bärenreiter

By: ______

Title: ______

Date: ______

-----Original Message-----From: Julie Haltiwanger

Sent: Wed, 14 May 2008 11:13 amSubject: FW: Human Subjects Staff Review

Julie Haltiwanger Office of Research P O Box 3062742 Tallahassee Fl 32306-2742 850-644-7900 Fax 850-644-4392

-----Original Message----- From: Human Subjects [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 8:29 am Subject: Human Subjects Staff Review

Human Subjects Application - For Full IRB and Expedited Exempt Review

PI Name: Matthew Edward Markham Project Title: An Exploration of the Songs from Těšín by Petr Eben HSC Number: 2008.1157

Your application has been received by our office. Upon review, it has been determined that your protocol is an oral history, which in general, does not fit the definition of "research" pursuant to the federal regulations governing the protection of research subjects. Please be mindful that there may be other requirements such as releases, copyright issues, etc. that may impact your oral history endeavor, but are beyond the purview of this office.

Dear Speakers from Těšín,

I, Matthew Markham, am a Doctoral Candidate in Voice Performance under the direction of Professor Stanford Olsen at the Florida State University College of Music. As a recipient of a music grant sponsored by the Theodore Presser Music Foundation I am engaged in substantive research applicable to my treatise – a study of Písně z Těšínska by Czech composer, Petr Eben. Visiting Těšín and recording native speakers speaking the eleven folk texts arranged by Eben is an integral part of my study.

Your participation will involve a reading of the eleven folk texts to be recorded by an audio recording device. This recording is to preserve the dialect unique to the people of Těšín and to promote an authentic performance of these folksongs by non-native speakers and singers. The results of this study and digital recording of your voice may be included in the publication of my treatise and/or used in the lecture accompanying the exploration of the folksongs. The recording will be a part of the electronic version of my treatise and may eventually be included in a book on the songs of Petr Eben.

Your participation in this recording is voluntary. If you choose not to participate or to withdraw from the study at any time, there will be no penalty. There is no risk involved. You will have the opportunity to express any concerns or pose any questions at any moment in the recording process. The process should only last approximately thirty minutes and will take place in a private room at a local Těšín library. You can choose to remain anonymous but it is important that your level of education, gender and age be documented.

Although there may be no direct benefit for you, the possible benefit of your participation is that your dialect can be preserved for future generations of Moravian-Silesian folksong interpreters.

Thank you,

Matthew Markham

I understand that I ______will be recorded by the researcher, Matthew Markham. These recordings will be securely kept by the researcher and included as a pronunciation guide in the doctoral treatise “An Exploration of Písně z Těšínska by Petr Eben.”

I give my consent to participate in the above study.

______(signature) ______(date)

If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research, or if you feel you have been placed at risk, you can contact the Chair of the Human Subjects Committee, Institutional Review Board, through the Vice President for the Office of Research at 850-644- 8633.

Thank you.

Matthew Markham

Informovaný souhlas účastníka v dizertační práci Explorace Písně z Těšínska Petra Ebena

Souhlasím s tím, že Matthew Markham, student doktorského studia v oboru zpěv a hudební teorie, udělá zvukový záznam mého čteni textu Písní z Těšínska. Rozumím, že ten zvukový záznam bude bezpečně chráněn pánem Markhamem. Souhlasím s tím, že zvukový záznam bude zahrnutý v dizertační práci Explorace Písně z Těšínska Petra Ebena k tomu, aby poučil nerodilých mluvčích češtiny o správné české výslovnosti textu písní. Souhlasím s výše uvedeným návrhem.

V______dne______

Podpis účastníka ______

V pípadě, že v pozdější době: • nesouhlasíte s výše uvedeným návrhem • nesouhlasíte nebo jste znepokojen/a podminkami výzkumu máte právo kontaktovat hlavu Etické Komise univerzity: Julie Haltiwanger Email: [email protected] Telefon: (850)644-7900

Děkuji za účastnictví, Matthew Markham

Podpis ______

I, Matthew Markham, am a Doctoral Candidate in Voice Performance under the direction of Professor Stanford Olsen at the Florida State University College of Music. As a recipient of a music grant sponsored by the Theodore Presser Foundation I am engaged to conduct research through libraries, interviews and a study of the Tesin dialect applicable to my treatise – An Exploration of Písně z Těšínska by Petr Eben. Visiting London and the Czech Republic in order to conduct interviews on Eben’s life, compositional style and circumstances during the 1952 year leading to the composition of his Písně z Těšínska along with Moravian folk influences will be the integral part of my research.

Upon my return to FSU in the fall of 2007 after teaching on the voice faculty of the International Ameropa Solo and Chamber Music Festival in Brandýs-nad-Labem and Prague, Czech Republic, I began exploring vocal works by the contemporary Czech composer Petr Eben. I was immediately drawn to the lyric melodies, complex harmonic progressions, modal tonalities, dance rhythms, and powerfully personal texts of his Písně z Těšínska (Songs from Tesin, 1952). My treatise will consist of a study of these eleven Moravian-Silesian folksongs, drawing from my own interviews with Eben's family and contemporaries and a study of the dialect unique to the people of Těšín. Mr. Eben’s passing on October 24, 2007, and the relative lack of published research on his work, provides the impetus for my intended research. Existing publications focus on Eben’s choral and organ music; as such, my research project will represent the first scholarly investigation of his folk compositions.

My project has the academic and musical support of noted experts in the field of Czech studies, Moravian history and Czech music. Such notables are Dr. Lisa Wakamiya of the Modern Language Department at FSU; Mr. Graham Melville-Mason of the Dvoák Society in London; Ms. Katerina Englichová of the Prague Philharmonic; the Artistic Staff of the Ameropa Festival in Prague and Dr. Timothy Cheek of the University of Michigan. These scholars, along with my doctoral supervisory committee, have been a source of guidance in the preliminary stages of my research and suggested I make my research available to others in the form of articles, a definitive book on the life and songs of Petr Eben accompanied by a CD of the folk texts spoken by native speakers, and finally a recording of me singing the songs of Petr Eben. It is my intention to have articles published in the following peer- reviewed journals: NATS Journal of Singing, Journal of Moravian History, Classical Singer and Kosmos: Czechoslovak and Central European Journal.

Your participation is voluntary. If you choose not to participate or to withdraw from the interview at any time, there will be no penalty. There will be no risk involved. You will have the opportunity to express any concerns or pose any questions during the interview process. The interview will last approximately one hour and will take place at your discretion. The information which you provide can remain confidential, in which case the audiovisual recorder will be turned off. Otherwise, our discussion of Mr. Eben will be recorded for the purposes of further promoting the legacy that is the Czech Republic’s foremost composer of the second half of the twentieth century.

If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research, or if you feel you have been placed at risk, you can contact the Chair of the Human Subjects Committee, Institutional Review Board, through the Vice President for the Office of Research at 850-644- 8633.

Thank you,

Matthew Markham

I understand that I ______will be recorded by an audiovisual recording device by the researcher, Matthew Markham. These recordings will be securely kept in his possession and the information provided will be included in the doctoral treatise “An Exploration of Písně z Těšínska by Petr Eben” as well as in articles, lectures and may eventually included in a book on the songs of Petr Eben.

I give my consent to participate in the interview as stated above.

______(signature) ______(date)

Souhlasím s tím, aby svůj hovor se studentem doktorského studia v oboru zpěv a hudební teorie PísnMatthew Markham byl zaznamen digitě z Těšínska álním záznamníkem. Rozumím, že záznam bude bezpečně Písních chráněn pánem Markhamem, a je možné, že část hovoru bude citováz Těšínska na v dizertační práci Explorace Petra Ebena, v článkách a významných publikacích, nebo ve přednáškach o Petra Ebena.

Souhlasím s výše uvedeným návrhem.

V______dne______Podpis účastníka ______

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adam (last name unknown, a Těšín native). Interview by author, 9 August 2008, Jablunkov, Czech Republic.

Author unknown, Petr Eben, “The Times.” United Kingdom, 7 December 2007.

Ball, Katharine. “Hej, koło Těšína.” Transcription of piano introduction. 2009. University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Barbora Baronová. Interview by author, 9 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Bartoš, František. Národni Písně Moravskě František Bartoš po stránce hudební pořádal Leoš Janáček v Praze. Praha: Česka Akademie, 1901.

Bojdová, Martina. Interview by author, 8 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Cheek, Timothy. Interview by author, 6 March 2009, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

______. Singing in Czech: A Guide to Czech Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2001.

Cymorek, Halina. Interview by author, 7 August 2008, Tinec, Czech Republic.

Eben, David. Interview by author, 3 August 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

Eben, Petr. Písně z Těšínska: Lieder aus dem Teschnerland. Praha: Bärenreiter Editio Supraphon, 1973.

______. Songs: Dagmar Pecková, mezzosoprán, Ivan Kusnjer, baryton, Petr Eben, Klavír, Jan Pěruška, viola. Supraphon, 2000. Compact disc.

Evans, James L. “The Choral Music of Petr Eben.” The Degree of Magister Arts diss., University College Cork, 1995.

Gelnar, Jaromír. “Modern Composers: Interview with Petr Eben.” Radio broadcast, 1960. Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Gelnar, Jaromír and Oldich Sirovátka. Slezskě Písně. Praha: Státní Nakladatelství Krásné Literatury, Hudby a Umění, 1957, 8.

Fishell, Janette. “The Organ Music of Petr Eben,” Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1998.

Fisher, Steven Rogers. A History of Language. The Netherlands: Reaktion Books, 1999. 198.

Fousková, Miloslová. Interview by author, July 2007, Brandys-nad-Labem, Czech Republic.

Grycz, Marek. Interview by author, 7 August 2008, Tinec, Czech Republic.

Grycz, Roman. Interview by author, 7 August 2008, Tinec, Czech Republic.

Hvíždala, Karel. “Romantik a díč Petr Eben.” Spolecnost (January 2003): 8.

Janovicky, Karel. Interview by author, 14 August 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

Johnston, Jesse. “Re: Folk Institute in Brno,” personal e-mail, 3 March 2009.

Judith (last name unkown, a Těšín native). Interview by author, 8 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Kadłubiec, Karol Daniel, Andrej Sulitka, and Jaroslav Štika, Těšínsko (Těšín: Muzeum Těšínska Valašské muzeum v pirodě Nakladatelství Tilia, 2003), 148.

Kusnjer, Ivan. Interview by author, 15 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

Kyjonka, Miroslav. Z Pěvník Lidových Písní z Těšínska trans. Lisa Ryoka Wakamiya (Český Těšín: PRO print spol. S.r.o., 2004), 3-4.

Large, Brian. “Some Czech Composers Today.” Tempo 80 (1967): 2-11.

Map of the Czech Republic, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, http://www.cia.gov/library/publication/the-world-factbook/geos/ez.html. Map of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Silesia, http://warchat.org/history/history-world/wars-in-year-1900-1950.html.

Marhounová, Janá. “Czech Music in the Web of Life,” (Praha: Empatie, 1993), 221; quoted in James L. Evans, The Choral Music of Petr Eben (M.A. thesis, University College Cork, 1995), 35.

Melville-Mason, Graham. “A Tribute to Petr Eben: To Mark His 70th Birthday Year.” Burnham-on Crouch, Dvorak Society, 2000.

______. “Petr Eben Songs,” personal e-mail (5 February 2008)

Mohammad, Adam. “Re: Native Speakers of Těšín,” personal e-mail, 15 May 2008.

Mojžíšek, Josef. Lidově Písně z Těšínska. Ostravě: Vydal Krajský národní výbor, 1956.

The New American Bible, Camden, New Jersey, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1971.

Pecháček, Stanislav. “Petr Eben: Folklorní inspirace.” Cantus 72 (January 2007): 16- 19.

Pilka, Jií. “Písně Petra Ebena.” Hudební Rozhledy 11 (October 1957): 448-451.

Putzlacher, Lenka. Interview by author, 8 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Racek, Jan and Jií Vysloužil. “Problems of Style in Twentieth-Century Czech Music.” The Musical Quarterly Vol. 51, No. 1, Special Fiftieth Anniversary Issue: Contemporary Music in Europe: A Comprehensive Survey. (Jan., 1965), pp. 191- 204.

Rokyta, Jan. Interview by author, 10 August 2008, Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Sobotka, Mojmír, historian at Czech Music Information Centre. Interview by author, 8 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

Slováček, Boleslav. Interview by author, 7 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Steyn, W.H. “A Thematic Catalogue of the Organ Works (1954-1995) of Petr Eben.” The Degree of Magister Musicae diss., University of Port Elisabeth in , 1996.

Suszka, Beata. Interview by author, 7 August 2008, Tinec, Czech Republic.

Szturcová, Dagmar. Interview by author, 8 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Tučapský, Antonín. “Re: Songs from Těšín,” personal e-mail, 10 May 2008.

______. “Re: Songs from Těšín,” personal e-mail, 21 May 2008.

Utíkal, Renata. Interview by author, 8 August 2008, Těšín, Czech Republic.

Víčar, Jan. Interview by author, 9 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

Vitová, Eva. Interview by author, 11 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

______. Petr Eben. Praha: Baronet, 2004.

Vondrovicová-Červenková, Kateina. Interview by author, 12 July 2008, Prague, Czech Republic.

______. Petr Eben, 2nd edition: Praha 1995.

Yeomans, David. Piano Music of the Czech Romantics: A Performer’s Guide. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Matthew Markham, baritone, enjoys an active career on the operatic, concert, recital, and musical theater stages. He has appeared on the operatic stage with Ash Lawn Opera, Janiec Opera, Spoleto Festival, New Jersey Opera, Manhattan Opera Theater of the French Institute Alliance Française in , Da Ponte Concert Opera, Westminster Opera Theater, and Florida State Opera. Roles span Mozart through lyric French and English/American opera. This versatile artist is a frequent soloist of oratorio ranging Bach to Britten and has performed in prestigious concert venues including Suk Hall at the Rudolfinum in Prague, Czech Republic. An avid interpreter of art song, he has had the opportunity to work with musical luminaries Martin Katz, Graham Johnson, John Harbison, Jake Heggie, Ricky Ian Gordon and the late Craig Smith in performances at Songfest in Malibu, California. Mr. Markham has participated in master classes with Elly Ameling, Wolfgang Holzmair, Helmut Deutsch, Rudolf Jansen, Edith Wiens, Robert Tear, and Jorma Hynninen at the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria. He has twice been selected to participate in the Baldwin-Wallace Art Song Festival in Ohio where he has worked with Warren Jones, François Le Roux, and Stephanie Blythe. Most recently, Mr. Markham was named a Finalist in the Franco-American Vocal Academy French Art Song Competition held in Tribute to Gérard Souzay. He has been a competition winner of the Regional MacAllister Awards, State and Regional NATS Competitions, Westminster Choir College Graduate Voice Competition, and numerous Rotary Club sponsored competitions. Mr. Markham has been featured on a PBS Film Documentary sponsored by NATS and has recorded with the German label Classic Produktion Osnabrück. In the fields of music research and vocal pedagogy, Mr. Markham has been the recipient of prestigious grants such as the national Theodore Presser Award for Graduate Research in Music and Florida State University grants including a Dissertation Research Award and The Glenys Gallaher Memorial Award. As a pedagogue, Mr. Markham was chosen to be a 2008 NATS Intern. He has presented lectures on art song repertory and pedagogy for the college level voice student. He has taught on the voice faculty of the

Purnell School for Girls in New Jersey, maintained a private voice studio, and continues to teach at the Ameropa Solo and Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic each summer. He has taught applied voice and assisted courses in song literature, diction, foreign language for singers, and vocal pedagogy at Florida State University, where he will receive his Doctorate in Voice Performance in 2009. He is an active member of NATS, College Music Society, and the Dvoák Society of London. Mr. Markham holds the Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from The Florida State University College of Music and the Master of Music degree in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He will join the voice faculty of the DePauw University School of Music in August 2009.