Marek Kopelent received international recognition when his String Quartet No 3 was performed at festivals throughout Europe.
23 Facts About Marek Kopelent
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Marek Kopelent co-founded and directed a contemporary music ensemble in Prague, Musica Viva Pragensis, and composed chamber music for them.
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Marek Kopelent studied further for one year in West Berlin on a scholarship by Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst.
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Marek Kopelent was chairman of the Czech section of the International Society for Contemporary Music.
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Marek Kopelent's compositions focus on chamber music, concertante music, and vocal music from solo songs to oratorios, based on a wide range of texts from medieval to contemporary.
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Marek Kopelent's father Frantisek Kopelent was a lawyer, and his mother was a French teacher.
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From 1951 to 1955 Marek Kopelent studied composition with Jaroslav Ridky at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
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Marek Kopelent followed the late-Romantic style of his teacher in an orchestral piece concluding his studies, Satanela.
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Marek Kopelent then worked from 1956 as a music editor for contemporary music for the Supraphon publishing house.
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From 1959, Marek Kopelent noticed increasingly the styles of the Second Viennese School and the European avant-garde movement.
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Marek Kopelent absorbed influences and reflected them in his works.
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From 1965 to 1973, Marek Kopelent served as an artistic director of the contemporary music ensemble Musica Viva Pragensis, which had been founded by Petr Kotik in 1961.
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In 1969, Marek Kopelent accepted a scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, which included a one-year artistic internship in West Berlin.
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In 1971 Marek Kopelent lost his job as editor, and his music was banned by the Czechoslovak government for twenty years.
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Marek Kopelent was ostracized by the new Union of Composers, and his ensemble Musica viva Pragensis was not permitted by the authorities to pursue its concert activity.
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In 1976, Marek Kopelent accepted a job as a piano accompanist for a children's dance schools in Radotin, where he remained for 15 years.
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Marek Kopelent was a co-founder and chairman of the Czech section of the International Society for Contemporary Music, and was chairman of the Atelier 90 composers' association.
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Marek Kopelent was the organiser and a regular lecturer to International Composers' Summer Courses, held in Cesky Krumlov.
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Marek Kopelent died in Prague on 12 March 2023, at age 90, at the Motol University Hospital after a short illness.
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Marek Kopelent's works include five string quartets, oratorios and concertante works.
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Marek Kopelent was one of the most-published Czech composers in the second half of the 20th century.
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In 1991, Marek Kopelent was honoured by the French government, which named him a Chevalier des arts et des lettres.
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Marek Kopelent received the Czech Classic Award in 1999, the Herder Prize in 2001, and a Czech State Award for his lifelong contribution to Czech music in 2003.