Josef Páleníček

Josef Páleníček (July 19, 1914, Travnik, Bosnia, Austria-Hungary—March 7, 1991, Prague) was a Czech piano virtuoso and composer.

Biography 
Páleníček studied at the gymnasium in Prague, and concurrently he studied also at the Prague Conservatory. From 1933 to 1938 he continued his studies at the master school of Karel Hoffmeister. Simultaneously he studied law at the Charles University. He graduated from both schools in 1938. Páleníček was also a pupil of Vítězslav Novák and Otakar Šín. He completed his studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, where he studied under Diran Alexanian and Pierre Fournier. During his stay in Paris he studied also with Albert Roussel. From 1936 he started his career as a concert pianist and he became a solo pianist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1949. However, his first public performance was at the age of 12 in 1926 in Olomouc. Following the World War II he also became a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party.

Páleníček was appointed a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 1963. In 1984 he served on the jury of the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition.

Works

Orchestral compositions
Concertino for orchestra (1945) 
 Symphonic Variations on an Imaginary Portrait of Ilya Erenburg for large symphony orchestra (1971)

Concertant compositions
1st Concerto in C for piano and orchestra (string orchestra and timpani) (1940)
2nd Concerto in E flat for piano and orchestra (1952) 
3rd Concerto for piano and small orchestra, for young pianists (1961)
Concertino da camera in D for clarinet and orchestra (1957) 
Concerto for Flute and orchestra (1955) 
Concerto for Saxophone and orchestra (1944)

Compositions for chamber ensembles
Preludium a Capriccio for violin and piano (1935)
Suita piccola for violin and piano (1958)
Variations on a Choral Song of the XVIIth Century for violoncello and piano (1942) 
Sonata for clarinet and piano (1936) 
Partita piccola for clarinet and piano (1943)
Masks, two compositions for saxophone and piano (1957) 
1st String Quartet (1954) 
Piano Quintet (1933)
Variations on his own theme for violoncello and piano (1972) 
Rondo Concertante for violoncello and piano (1972)
Trio Sonata for oboe, mezzo-soprano and piano (1965)

Compositions for piano
Sonata (1936) 
Piano Sketchbook (cycle of five compositions), (1939)

Choral compositions
Songs to Chinese poetry for soprano and piano (ossia for baritone and piano), Czech translation of verses by B. Mathesius (1947) 
My Lai, for mezzo-soprano and piano (1971)
Blown Traces, cycle of men s choirs (1958)

Cantatas
Song of Man, full-length oratorio for soloists, mixed choir and large orchestra, folk choir and folk soloists and children's choir (1960)

Instructive compositions
Czech Fairytales (1940) 
From the Notebook of a Small Boy, 7 short compositions for violoncello and piano (ossia bassoon and piano, bass clarinet and piano) (1972) 
Abacus for children's choir, piano, trumpet, clarinet and percussion instruments (1973)

Notes

References

External links
 Extensive Biography site

1914 births
1991 deaths
People from Travnik
Czech classical composers
Czech male classical composers
Czech classical musicians
Czech classical pianists
20th-century classical composers
20th-century classical pianists
École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni
Male classical pianists
20th-century Czech male musicians
Czechoslovak musicians
Prague Conservatory alumni
Academic staff of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague