Pavel Bořkovec

Pavel Bořkovec was a Czech composer and music teacher. He studied philosophy at the Karls University in Praha, when he was called to serve in World War I in 1916. After the war, he took private lessons with Jaroslav Křička and Josef Bohuslav Foerster, later under Josef Suk at the Praha Conservatoire (1925-27). During this time he composed his first symphonic and chamber music. In the late 1920s, he quit his job to become a professional composer. He was then influenced by the European avant-garde like Stravinsky, Honegger, and Hindemith and became a member of the neo-classicistic Mánes Music Group. During the German occupation in World War II, Bořkovec included more indigenous and lyric elements into his music. During this time, he wrote his most highly valued compositions.

After the war, Bořkovec was appointed professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Praha, a position which he held until 1967. In his musical works, he again took up the most recent stylistic developments. In addition to symphonic and chamber music, he wrote operas a number of songs using poems of contemporary poets.

Bořkovec’s 7-minute long work Start, premiered in 1930 and entered in 1932, is described as a “Symphonic allegro for large orchestra”. It was considered to enter also three new songs – 100 m, Women’s start and Breath - forming the Stadium cycle based on poems from Kazimierz Wierzyński’s Laur Olimpijski (Olympic Bay Leaf), 1928 gold medalist in literature. But these songs were obviously not completed in time. Start is available on CD together with two of his symphonies.