UNDER THE PARTY FAÇADE: MILOSLAV IŠTVAN AND THE INNOVATIONS OF THE BRNO SCHOOL IN THE CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIALIST REPUBLIC

Abstract

The innovative compositions of Miloslav Ištvan (1928-1990) and his influential theoretical writings contributed to the creation of the modern composition school in Brno, capitol of Moravia in the present Czech Republic. Through the vehicle of his three piano sonatas (unpublished, but composed in 1954, 1959, and 1979), this monograph places Ištvan and his music against the political background of ideological repression in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The unique blend of Moravian folk music and fierce pride in Czech culture are clearly evident throughout Ištvan’s compositional oeuvre and specifically in his piano music. In particular, his sheer creativity and courage to create his own voice under severe artistic deprivation combine to create a body of work that remains one of the most prominent influences in the present-day compositional scene in Brno. Each of the six chronological sections in this monograph employs a single year as a frame of reference. These years were selected both for their political significance and to represent an important event in Ištvan’s personal or musical life. In addition to the biographical details, political context and analysis of the piano sonatas, other significant compositions and contemporary writings are considered to trace the developmental thread of Moravian music. Ištvan’s search for artistic expression brings the lineage of his direct predecessor, Brno compositional giant Leoš Janáček, into the avant-garde New Music movement of the 1960s. Ištvan’s further work as a composition professor and writer of theoretical texts in the 1970s and 80s continues to influence the current generation of composers in the Czech Republic. This monograph calls attention to a composer and his rich body of work, created during politically turbulent times, that remains virtually unknown outside his country of origin.