The Czech Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. It belongs to the oldest and most important world orchestras and is appreciated for its specific warm tone. The main stage of the orchestra is the Rudolfinum concert hall.
The Musical Offering, BWV 1079, is a collection of keyboard canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great, to whom they are dedicated. They were published in September 1747. The Ricercar a 6, a six-voice fugue which is regarded as the high point of the entire work, was put forward by the musicologist Charles Rosen as the most significant piano composition in history. This ricercar is also occasionally called the Prussian Fugue, a name used by Bach himself.
Václav Talich was a Czech violinist and later a musical pedagogue. He is remembered today as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, the object of countless reissues of his many recordings.
Ilja Hurník was a Czech composer and essayist.
Jiří Stivín is a Czech flute player and composer.
Josef Suk was a Czech violinist, violist, chamber musician and conductor. In his home country he carried the title of National Artist.
Milan Munclinger was a significant Czech flautist, conductor, composer and musical scientist.
Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová was a Czechoslovak concert pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the Prague Academy of Arts. Her students included Ivan Moravec. Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová was the mother of pianist Pavel Štěpán.
František Sláma was a Czech chamber music performer. He was the first Czech cellist who focused on Early music.
The woodwind sextet Youth, (1924) is a chamber composition by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. It was composed for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and bass clarinet.
Lubor Bárta was a Czech composer.
Josef František Munclinger, also Josef František Munclingr was a Czech operatic bass and opera stage director who had an active international career from the 1910s through the 1950s. His voice is preserved on a number of recordings made for the Ultraphon and Supraphon labels.
Otto Peter is a Swiss classical baritone. He studied with the composer Paul Hindemith, the Swiss violinist of Czech origin Petr Rybář, and singers Margherita Perras and Heinz Rehfuss. He became famous as an interpreter of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and performed frequently with the Zürcher Bach Chor. He was particularly active in Prague during the 1960s and 1970s where he worked frequently with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (PSO) and Ars Rediviva. With the PSO, he made recordings of the Johannes Passion and the St Matthew Passion under conductor Jindřich Rohan. He also recorded several Bach cantatas with Ars Rediviva under the baton of Milan Munclinger.
Ladislav Černý was a Czech violist and teacher.
Musica Florea is a Czech Baroque music ensemble in Prague, founded in 1992 by conductor and cellist Marek Štryncl.
Zdeněk Tylšar was a Czech horn player and music pedagogue, brother of hornist Bedřich Tylšar. He was the principal hornist and leader of the horn section with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for almost 40 years. During his career, he created numerous recordings and performed worldwide.
The Prague Madrigalists is a Czech chamber music ensemble founded in 1956 as Noví pěvci madrigalů a komorní hudby by the organist and composer Miroslav Venhoda. It was renamed to Prague Madrigalists and professionalized in 1967. The ensemble focuses on performing vocal and instrumental music of the 15th - 17th century, however, occasionally they also perform music of contemporary composers. The Prague Madrigalists were a subdivision of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra up to the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Their recordings were released on labels such as Supraphon.
Milan Křížek was a Czech composer, music teacher and viola player.
The Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition aims to publish the complete works of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959). The BMCE is a complete historical critical edition of all the finished and unfinished compositions of Bohuslav Martinů. It is based on the scholarly assessment of all available sources and analysed with the newest methods of textual criticism and music philology. The BMCE is a highly complex undertaking that offers numerous organisational, legal, and academic challenges. The first volume was published in 2014, and the project is scheduled to issue a total of 106 volumes in the course of 53 years. For these reasons, the BMCE is regarded as the pre-eminent undertaking of contemporary Czech music publishing.
František Hertl was a Czech double bassist, composer and conductor.
