Lecture: Michael Beckerman

The Embassy of the Czech Republic invites you to a lecture with Michael Beckerman, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music at New York University, who will give the lecture "What's Czech about Czech Music," accompanied by soprano Ada Bílková, on October 21, 2024, at 6 pm. Delight in an evening answering this question and uncovering new insights into Czech music. 

 

The words “Czech Music” in this year-long celebration may seem self-evident. And yet the way we choose to interpret those words are important aspects of the way we understand both the past and the present.  I will present three different models for how we might engage the question, richly illustrated by musical examples:  the first is an approach to Czech music that suggests the tradition is best understood by invoking the powerful but elusive concept of “Czechness;” second is based on the view that we should hear Czech music in terms of the polyglot legacy of the Hapsburg Empire; and the third is an approach to the subject based on the idea that Czech music cannot meaningfully be separated from European music, and even that putting too much stress on nationality, may actually be an impediment as we try to grasp the power behind the music of Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů and many other significant figures.

 

Spoiler alert: all of these are true and none of these are true 

Event Details:

Date/Time: October 21, 2024

Venue: Embassy of the Czech Republic
3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008

RSVP required: https://CzechMusicSeries.eventbrite.com

Admission is free.

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