Julie Reisserová

Julie Reisserová in 1931

Julie Reisserová née Kühnlova (9 October 1888 – 25 February 1938) was a Czech composer and music publicist.

Biography

Julie Reisserová was born in Prague. She studied piano with Adolf Mikeš and singing with Richard Figar. From 1919 until 1921 she studied composition in Prague with Josef Bohuslav Foerster. She continued her composition studies in Bern with Ernst Hohlfeld and with Albert Roussel (1924–1929) and Nadia Boulanger.[1]

In 1921 she married Czech diplomat Jan Reisser (born 1891) and moved with him to Switzerland (1921–1929), Belgrade (1930–1933) and Copenhagen (1933–1936) while pursuing her career as a composer. Her work was performed in Bern, Paris, Geneva, Copenhagen and in Philadelphia.[2]

Reisserová translated into Czech language Le testament de la tante Caroline (Aunt Caroline's Last Will), by operetta by composer Albert Roussel and librettist Nino (Michel Veber). The operetta premiered on 14 November 1936 in Olomouc and was also staged on 18 April 1937 in Prague.[3][4]

She died in Prague in 1938, age 49.

Selected works

Notable works include:[1]

Orchestral music
  • Suite for Orchestra (Czech: Suita pro orchestr), 1928–1931
  • Pastorale Maritimo for Orchestra (Czech: Pastorale Maritimo pro orchestr), 1933
  • Early Spring (Czech: Předjaří), 1936
Solo piano
  • Esquisses, 1935
  • Deux Allegros
Vocal music
  • March (Czech: Březen; orchestral songs), 1934
  • Sous la neige (Czech: Pod sněhem, lit. '"Beneath the Snow"'; song cycle for voice and piano), 1936
  • Festive Day (Czech: Slavnostní den; for women's choir), 1936, dedicated to Františka Plamínková

Reisserová also wrote In Margin Vitae, a book of her poems written in Czech, German, French and English (lost).

Recordings

Esquisses nos. 1 et 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQHy4LElE4k (Yuliya Minina, piano).

References

  1. ^ a b Karla Hartl. "Women in Czech music – Julie Reisserová". Kapralova Society. Retrieved 26 June 2024., republished in: Karla Hartl (2010). "Komponistinnen in Tschechien" (PDF). In Christel Nies (ed.). Entdeckt und uraufgeführt – Komponistinnen und ihr Werk IV (in German). Kassel University Press. pp. 232–247. ISBN 978-3-89958-942-9.
  2. ^ Grove, Sir George; Blom, Eric (1954). Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 7. Macmillan. ISBN 9780333191743.
  3. ^ "Prague opera premieres" (PDF). Opera (in English and Czech). 76 (3). Prague State Opera: 35. Spring 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  4. ^ Závada, Vilém (1931-10-22). "Skladatelka Julie Reisserová o sobě" [Composer Julie Reisserová about herself]. Rozpravy Aventina [cs] (in Czech). Vol. 7, no. 6. pp. 44–45. Retrieved 26 June 2024.

Further reading

  • Jean-Paul C. Montagnier, "Autour de la Pastorale maritimo de Julie Reisserová (1888–1938)", Revue belge de musicologie, 74 (2020), pp. 143–166.
  • Jean-Paul C. Montagnier, "Julie Reisserová (1888–1938): A Czech Woman Composer of Importance", in It’s a Man’s World? Künstlerinnen in Europas Musik-Metropolen des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts. Edited by Kaï Hinrich Müller and Sabine Meine. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann GmbH, 2023, pp. 157–167.
  • Jean-Paul C. Montagnier, Julie Reisserová (1888-1938): Czech Composer and Feminist. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025, ISBN 9781009517362.
  • Julie Reisserová, Oeuvres pour orchestre. Orchestral Works, edited by Jean-Paul C. Montagnier. Berlin: Ries & Erler, 2022.
  • Julie Reisserová, Březen. Version pour orchestre / Orchestral Version, edited by Jean-Paul C. Montagnier. Berlin: Ries & Erler, 2023.
  • Julie Reisserová, Musique de chambre / Chamber Music, edited by Jean-Paul C. Montagnier. Berlin: Ries & Erler, 2023.
Stub icon

This article about a Czech composer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.