Václav Kaprál

Václav Kaprál

Václav Kaprál (1889, Určice - 1947) was a Czech pianist and composer. Kaprál studied composition with Leoš Janáček in the Brno Organ School (1908–1910) and with Vítězslav Novák (1919–1920) in Prague. Later, he studied piano interpretation with Alfred Cortot in Paris (1923–1924). Kaprál composed about fifty opuses, mainly solo piano, vocal, and chamber music. He was the father of Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová.

Selected works

Piano music

• four sonatas (1912, 1921, 1924, 1939)
• Nocturno (1915) on YouTube
• three sonatinas
• Suita romantica (1918)
• Miniatures (1922)
• Lyrica (1927)
• Fantasie (1934)

Chamber music

• two string quartets
• Ballad for violoncello (1946).

Vocal compositions

• Pro ni (For her, 1927) for voice and piano quartet
• Píseň podzimu (Song of Autumn, 1929) for voice and string quartet
• Uspávanky (Lullabies, 1932) for voice and chamber orchestra
• Milodějné kvítí (Flowers of Love, 1942) dedicated to the memory of his daughter Vítězslava who died in 1940
• Svatobořické lidové písně (Folksongs from Svatobořice, 1944)
• Hradišťská idyla (1944)
• Česká mše (Czech Mass, 1943).

References

• Kaprál's page on the website of the Kapralova Society