{"id":4140,"date":"2021-11-13T04:11:05","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T03:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/?p=4140"},"modified":"2025-01-18T01:59:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T00:59:27","slug":"the-dark-blue-exile-of-jaroslav-jezek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/2021\/the-dark-blue-exile-of-jaroslav-jezek\/","title":{"rendered":"The DARK BLUE EXILE of JAROSLAV JE\u017eEK"},"content":{"rendered":"

A talk by MICHAEL BECKERMAN, New York University, Music Department<\/strong><\/p>\n

In person!<\/p>\n

Monday, NOVEMBER 29 at 7 PM<\/strong>
\nAt Bohemian National Hall
\n321 E 73 St, 3rd floor, New York City<\/p>\n

VIDEO RECORDING<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Musicologist and author MICHAEL BECKERMAN presented the remarkable Czech composer, phenomenal pianist and elemental musician Jaroslav Je\u017eek (1906-1942) and his last years in New York where he lived in exile after fleeing the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Professor Beckerman discussed Je\u017eek’s final composition, the Piano Sonata<\/em>, which he completed shortly before his death in 1942 in New York. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In the USA, Jaroslav Je\u017eek performed for Czech Americans and expatriates with Jiri Voskovec and Jan Werich, his fellow exiles and protagonists of the popular Prague\u2019s political antifascist revue troupe, the Liberated Theater. <\/em> (Photo from the left: Je\u017eek-Werich-Voskovec)<\/p>\n

MUSICAL GUESTS<\/strong>
\nThe brilliant pianist Siyumeng Wang<\/a><\/strong>, a native of Beijing and current student at The Juilliard School performed selections from Je\u017eek\u2019s Piano Sonata<\/em>. Prague-born and Berlin-based jazz singer Martina Barta<\/a><\/strong> performed five of Je\u017eek’s songs in Czech accompanied by Francesco Pollo<\/a>n<\/strong> from Treviso, Italy. Both accomplished artists are currently students at the Manhattan School of Music. (See below the English translation of the songs.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>MICHAEL BECKERMAN<\/strong> is Carroll and Milton Petrie Chair and Collegiate Professor of Music at New York University and a Vice-President of the Dvorak American Heritage Association (DAHA). He has written many studies and several books on Czech music topics, including New Worlds of Dvorak (W.W. Norton, 2003), Dvorak and His World (Princeton University Press, 1993), Janacek and His World (Princeton, 2004), Janacek as Theorist (Pendragon Press, 1994), and Martinu’s Mysterious Accident (Pendragon, 2007), as well as articles on subjects such as Mozart, Brahms, film scoring, music of the Roma (Gypsies), exiled composers, and music in the camps. Dr. Beckerman has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times and was a regular guest on Live from Lincoln Center and other radio and television programs in the United States, Europe, and Japan. He is a recipient of the Dvorak Medal and the Janacek Medal by the Czech Ministry of Culture, and is also a Laureate of the Czech Music Council; he has twice received the Deems Taylor Award. He served as a Distinguished Professor at Lancaster University (2011\u20132015) and was The Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic (2016-17). In 2014, Dr. Beckerman received an honorary doctorate from Palack\u00fd University in the Czech Republic. This year, he was awarded the Gratias Agit Award from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Harrison Medal from the Society for Musicology in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>SIYUMENG WANG<\/strong>, piano
\nBorn in Beijing, China, pianist Siyumeng Wang is a rising star in the international music scene. A winner of the Gina Bachauer Competition, Leonore Kraeuter Scholarship award, and Kovner Fellowship, Siyumeng studies with Veda Kaplinsky and Julian Martin at Juilliard. Currently working towards the Master in Music degree, Siyumeng earned the B.M. degree in 2021, won prizes at Oberlin International Piano Competition, Beijing All-Star Cup Piano Competition, Hope Cup Piano Competition, studied at Music Academy of the West, Manchester Music , Piano Texas, and Belvoir Terrace. Siyumeng performed at Alice Tully Hall, David H. Koch Theater Lincoln Center, and throughout China. She performs for audiences in health care facilities and community-based organizations as a member of the Gluck Community Service Fellowship Program. www.siyumeng.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>MARTINA BARTA<\/strong>, voice
\nMartina Barta is a multitalented singer and musician born in Prague, based in Berlin, performing in diverse music projects at national and international music festivals and venues worldwide. In 2016, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Jazz Institute at the Universit\u00e4t der K\u00fcnste in Berlin, where she took vocal lessons from Prof. Judy Niemack and Prof. David Friedman. In 2017, Martina represented the Czech Republic at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music, where she takes classes in the Jazz Arts Masters Program with Prof. Theo Bleckmann. Full bio<\/a>. Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>FRANCESCO POLLON<\/strong>, piano
\nFrancesco Pollon is a pianist, composer, and educator born in Treviso, Italy. Since the age of fifteen, he has been on stage as a musician, performing throughout Italy and in Croatia, Israel and Palestine, Qatar, Poland and Romania. He played with the jazz legend Chick Corea in Vicenza and with the resident band at the prestigious jazz club The Club at St. Regis in Doha, Qatar. Francesco is also an accomplished classical guitar player. Francesco received his M.A. in Jazz Piano Performance from the Conservatory of Venice in 2018 and the Best Instrumentalist Award at the 2019 Sibiu Jazz Competition. In 2020, he published his debut solo piano album Catch Me. Since September 2021, Francesco has pursued his studies at Manhattan School of Music in New York. www.francescopollon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

This event is organized by the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), New York Chapter, in association with the Dvorak American Heritage Association<\/a> (DAHA) and with the support the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association<\/a> (BBLA).<\/p>\n

FIVE JEZEK’s SONGS in ENGLISH<\/strong>
\n(c)2022 Translation by Suzanna HALSEY [Improvements are welcome<\/em>-)]<\/p>\n

1. DAVID AND GOLIATH [David a Golias] <\/strong>
\nPeople are nasty to each other,
\nIt\u2019s a dog-eat-dog world.
\nJust look at them! One must lament!
\nA giant is beating up a little guy,
\nthinking he’ll win.
\nJust let’s sit nicely in a chair and read the Bible.
\nThe whole story is in there:
\nThe Book of Samuel tells us
\nhow a great misfortune befell the Jews,
\nhow the lousy Philistines were not lazy to go to a war,
\nuntil they met David, that is.
\nWilly-nilly did David go off to war,
\ncarrying little cakes for his brothers from afar.
\nAs he marched, he practiced his throw.
\nAnd just in case, he put three rocks in his bag.
\n“Hey, hey, where, you think, you\u2019re going? You midget!”
\nGoliath provoked him this way,
\nbut David just politely saluted him.
\nBut when the giant spat in his eye,
\nDavid turned and swung his slingshot around.
\nWell, you’ve started it, so now you’ll get it!
\nYou were big, but I’ve got courage!
\nAnd so now, what’s left of Goliath?! <\/p>\n

2. HAT IN THE BUSH [Klobouk ve krovi]<\/strong>
\nThe wind is blowing across the desert
\ndriving a hat across the sand.
\nIt drove him into the thicket,
\nthe old black hat.
\nWhere’s the head,
\nwhich wore that hat?
\nWas it black or blond?
\nTo whom did it belong?
\nWho disappeared in the desert?
\nWhere did he go and to where?
\nWhat problem did he have?
\nso that he was alone in the desert?
\nOnly sand-covered footprints.
\nThe old hat in the bush.
\nNo one will understand.
\nNo one will find out.
\nWho disappeared in the desert?
\nWhere did he go and to where?
\nWhat problem did he have?
\nso that he was alone in the desert?
\nOnly sand-covered footprints
\nand the old hat in the bush.
\nNo one will understand.
\nNo one will find out.<\/p>\n

3. HEAVEN ON EARTH<\/strong>
\nI don’t believe in Nirvana,
\nOlympus, or Heaven.
\nWhen someone complains about the world,
\nI always curse.
\nI don’t care for Infinity
\nwith all the stars.
\nA few beautiful years somewhere on Earth,
\nthat’s enough for me.
\nWhen I tell you
\nthat Heaven is on Earth
\nI’m right, believe me.
\nI will give life for life,
\nalthough I don’t like dying, and
\nI’m not alone, believe me.
\nFor the one who wants to live,
\nthere are so many marvels in the world!
\nAnd to make Heaven from them, it’s up to you.
\nOnly you, believe me.
\nIt depends when the time comes
\nwhen Heaven starts for us on Earth.
\nFor the one who wants to live,
\nthere are so many marvels in the world!
\nAnd to make Heaven from them, it’s up to you.
\nOnly you, believe me.<\/p>\n

It depends when the time comes
\nwhen Heaven starts for us on Earth.
\nIt depends when the time comes
\nwhen Heaven starts for us on Earth,
\nwhen Heaven starts for us on Earth.<\/p>\n

4. DARK BLUE WORLD [Tmavomodry svet]<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s not enough that it is dark,
\nBut I also do not see.
\nI know that the darkness is everywhere around,
\nbut I do not see it.<\/p>\n

I only see that I do not see anything.
\nIf I admit that I see
\nI should be seeing more.<\/p>\n

My head, torso, two arms, legs
\nI do not see them.
\nSo, where did my so far perfect vision disappear?
\nEverything is covered with an impenetrable blue cloud,
\nDark blue cloud.<\/p>\n

I do not know where I shall go and how.
\nAnd the fact that a dark blue hat sits on my head,
\nthat is an illusion.<\/p>\n

I am not hungry, so what good is it that I have an appetite.
\nWhat good it is that even when I am not hungry,
\nmy soul is sad.<\/p>\n

Five weeks, seven hours, three months and six years
\nI have observed the melancholy world,
\nThe dark blue world.<\/p>\n

5. LIFE IS JUST A COINCIDENCE [Zivot je jen nahoda]<\/strong>
\nLife is just a coincidence.
\nOnce you’re down, then you’re up.
\nLife flows like water
\nand death is like the sea.
\nEveryone makes it to the sea,
\nsomeone sooner and someone later.<\/p>\n

Who loves in his life,
\nshall not lose hope.
\nOnly when you see miracles in life,
\nwhich only love can do,
\ngoldfish will fly up above the clouds.
\nThen you’ll understand
\nthat life is like water,
\nwhich love turns into wine.
\nThat love is a coincidence
\nand without it, there is no happiness,
\nand without it, there is no happiness.<\/p>\n

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A talk by MICHAEL BECKERMAN, New York University, Music Department In person! Monday, NOVEMBER 29 at 7 PM At Bohemian National Hall 321 E 73 St, 3rd floor, New York City VIDEO RECORDING Musicologist and author MICHAEL BECKERMAN presented the Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-84"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4140"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4995,"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4140\/revisions\/4995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svu2000.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}