JAN EVANGELISTA ZELINKA Composer autographed letter signed, Prague, 1924

Description

One page large quarto 8" x 13.5" autographed letter signed, Prague, July 5, 1924.
Jan Evangelista Zelinka (1893 - 1969) was a Czech composer, pianist and music publicist.
The Czech composer Jan Evangelista Zelinka was the son of the father of the same name (Jan Evangelista Zelinka the Elder, 1856–1935), who was the director of a number of Prague choirs and a composer of mainly church music. Zelinka graduated from the Business Academy and worked as a savings bank clerk until World War II, then devoted himself to composition. He studied music only irregularly and privately, first with his father, then with a family friend, composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster and with other composers Vítězslav Novák and Josef Suk, but especially with Otakar Ostrčil. Ostrčil also championed Zelinka in the beginning and performed his first musical-dramatic works at the Prague National Theater, the operas “The Daughter of the Innkeeper” (1925) and “The Ninth Meadow” (1931) and the ballet “Glass Virgin” (1928).
J. E. Zelinka was a prolific composer who worked in a wide number of musical genres; songs, choirs, cantatas, chamber music and symphonic music, though he is best remembered for his works for the stage and radio. He has written music for hundreds of theatrical and radio productions, as well as films “The Third Company” by director Svatopluk Innemann, 1931, or “The Red Lizard” by director František Sádek, 1948). Much of the work is dedicated to children.  Zelink's music is based on the late romanticism of his teachers, he excelled especially in his lyrical works which were significantly influenced by folklore from the 1940’s forward.
Major musical-dramatic works
Daughter of the Innkeeper, opera in 1 act on a libretto by Karel Mašek, composed in 1921, premiere on February 24, 1925 at the National Theater in Prague, conductor Otakar Ostrčil, directed by Robert Polák
June, opera, composed in 1924, unperformed
Kokokodák, a satirical opera in 3 acts, unperformed
The Glass Virgin, ballet based on libretto by Karel Schulz, premiere on July 2, 1928 at the National Theater in Prague, conductor Otakar Ostrčil
The Ninth Meadow, a lyrical musical comedy in 3 acts to the libretto by Růžena Jesenská, composed in 1929, premiere on September 19, 1931 at the National Theater in Prague, conductor Otakar Ostrčil, directed by Ferdinand Pujman
Heart on Holidays (originally Heart on a Rod), stage melodrama (grotesque), libretto by Jiří Mařánek, composed in 1932, premiere on January 28, 1938 in Brno, conductor Antonín Balatka
If I were a little boy, composed in 1935
Departure of Don Quixote, comic opera in 1 act on a libretto by Viktor Dyk, composed in 1936
Paličatý švec, opera in 2 acts (7 paintings) to a libretto by Josef Kopta, composed in 1940, premiere on March 28, 1944 at the National Theater in Prague, conductor Zdeněk Chalabala, directed by Ferdinand Pujman
Love grief and laughter, comic opera in 3 acts on his own libretto by Carl Goldoni, composed in 1946/1958, premiere on February 2, 1960 on Czechoslovak Radio, conductor Vlastislav Antonín Viplar
Meluzína, a fairy-tale opera with 5 paintings based on a libretto by František Kožík, composed in 1947, premiere on 31 January 1949 on Czechoslovak Radio, conductor František Dyk, staged on 15 April 1950 in Pilsen, conductor František Belfín, directed by Karel Berman
Courtship without End, a radio opera based on a libretto by J. P. Mölzer based on the play The Marriage of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, composed in 1949, premiered on January 27, 1950 on Czechoslovak Radio, conductor František Dyk
Spring at the Shakespeare, a musical comedy based on a libretto by P. Kostka, composed in 1955
Carnival Night, an opera with 3 acts to the libretto by Čeňek Studna based on the play Masquerade by Ludwig Holberg, composed in 1956
School for women, opera, libretto by J. Z. Novák based on Molière's play of the same name, composed in 1959
Crazy Spring, a folk opera with 3 acts to the libretto by J. Doubrava, composed in 1960
The Wooden Horse, a chamber opera based on Erskion's own libretto, composed in 1962–1963
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