Vítězslava Kaprálová’s Grotesque Passacaglia

This March, the Daily Classical Music Post will introduce you to some of the most wonderful music ever composed—and, yes, it will all be by women composers!

https://youtu.be/tFehvrBhTvQ

Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915–1940) was a Czech composer and conductor. She died at the age of 25 from what was thought to be tuberculosis in a hospital in France. She only composed around 50 works, but it is obvious from what she accomplished in her short life that she would have been an incredibly vital voice and a major composer.

Kaprálová had a very distinctive style, blending impressionism with Czech modernism. She was the student—and lover—of the great Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, who was devastated by her death. In 1942, he wrote: "Why had destiny given her so much energy, so many precious gifts, and yet denied her the opportunity to realise her full potential? This question, I think, will remain forever unanswered." And several of Martinů’s works are either dedicated to her or in some way reveal their relationship.

Kaprálová’s Grotesque Passacaglia was composed in 1935 when she was a student at the Prague Conservatory. She was given the task of composing a passacaglia, and this mischievous, chromatic, and virtuosic work was the result.

My classical music post for today is Vítězslava Kaprálová’s Grotesque Passacaglia.

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