Jindrich Feld
1925 - 2007
Czechoslovakian
Biography
Jindrich Feld was born into a family of musicians in Prague in 1925. He learnt to play the violin and viola with his parents, taking lessons in composition at the Conservatory and at the Academy of Music of his native city while at the same time gaining a Ph.D. in musicology, aesthetics and philosophy at the Charles University of Prague. It was not long before his works, for the most part instrumental, were being performed in various foreign countries, and he received numerous commissions. Although his style was deeply rooted in the Czech musical tradition, he gradually assimilated the main styles of 20th-century Western music, such as serial and aleatory techniques, using them in a very individual way. From 1972 to 1986 Jind?ich Feld taught composition at the Prague Conservatory, also teaching in Australia, the USA, several European countries and Japan. After the Czechoslovak democratic revolution in November 1989 he was active as a key member of several committees and organizations in his country (e.g. Association of Czech Musicians and Musicologists). From 1990 to 1992 he directed the Music Department of the Czech Radio. Jind?ich Feld died on 8 July 2007.