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Sunday Music ShowProtest singer Karel Kryl - an influential voice in Czech folk music
In today’s edition of our Sunday Music Show, we listen to music by the
legendary Czechoslovak folk singer Karel Kryl. He became one of the
country’s most important protest singers with his famous 1968 song
“Bratříčku zavírej vrátka,” and his tunes continue to be played in
the Czech Republic to this day. More
PanoramaKarel Kryl, writer of ‘political love songs’, remembered 15 years after his death
Karel Kryl is considered by many to be the greatest Czech folk singer ever
to have lived. He was the voice of a generation, with this song -
‘Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka’ - becoming an anthem of protest
against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Kryl, who died
15 years ago this week, continues to enjoy a massive popularity in this
country. One of the first people to spot his talent was DJ and music critic
Jiří Černý:
More
MailboxMailbox
This week in Mailbox: Fathers’ Day in the Czech Republic, trees
blossoming in May and June, singers Karel Kryl and Věra Bílá. Listeners
quoted: Ashraful Islam, Hidemitsu Miyake, Mike Feist, Howard Barnett.
More
Current AffairsFeud between folk singers Nohavica and Hutka deepens
Robbie Williams vs. Liam Gallagher, Britney Spears vs. Christina Aguilera;
high-profile fall-outs are pretty common in the world of pop music. But
perhaps less so on the folk music scene. But the bust-up between Czech folk
singers Jaromir Nohavica and Jaroslav Hutka has just become even bigger.
Last week, Mr Hutka, who lived for ten years in exile in the Netherlands,
having been forced out of communist Czechoslovakia in 1978, laid into
fellow singer-songwriter Jaromir Nohavica for his collaboration with the
secret police at the end of the 1980s. Over the weekend, Mr Nohavica hit
back, saying that he was forced into it, and that his secret police file
had been doctored. Rosie Johnston has more:
More
Current AffairsBest-selling singer called ‘Snitch’ by dissident colleague
A controversy is currently disturbing the Czech Republic’s serene folk
music scene. Singer-songwriter Jaroslav Hutka, who spent ten years in
exile
in Holland after having been forced out of communist Czechoslovakia in
1978, has had a go at Jaromir Nohavica, a best-selling and hugely popular
songwriter. In his new song “Udavac” (“The Snitch”), Hutka accuses
Nohavica of failing to explain his collaboration with the secret police in
the late 1980s. More
Czechs in HistoryKarel Kryl: folk singer-songwriter whose work embodied the Czechoslovak struggle for political freedom
Karel Kryl, singer, songwriter and poet, was the most prominent Czech folk
musician of the last fifty years. His well-known songs are to this day sung
in pubs and around campfires, even by those of the younger generation of
Czechs who grew up after his death. Born in Kromeriz in 1944, he began
writing and performing after graduating from secondary school, and was
later expelled from army service for performing songs deemed to be
anti-socialist. He was exiled from Czechoslovakia in 1970, but continued to
write, produce and perform until his return to the country in 1989 amidst
the sudden political changes of the Velvet Revolution. His songs came to
represent the national sufferings of a generation, and its desire for
political freedom.
More
MailboxMailbox
In Mailbox this week: more reaction to a Hollywood version of the life of
Milada Horakova, the song that is synonymous with the Russian occupation
of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and why Radio Prague doesn't use the name
"Czechia" instead of "the Czech Republic". Listeners
quoted: Stephen Landesman, Anna Zila-Granger and Dr. Eva Horova.
More
Current AffairsPrague street named after Karel Kryl - musical icon of 1968
Monday marked the 38th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by
Soviet-led troops in 1968. Even though the last Soviet soldier left the
country fifteen years ago, the memory of the invasion is still being kept
alive 38 years on, also thanks to music. To mark the anniversary, a street
in Prague was named after one of the musical icons of the time, the protest
song writer and singer Karel Kryl.
More
MagazineMagazine
Fighting over a roof that's in no man's land. Why do so many young Czechs
over twenty live with mum and dad. And, the risks of using a portable
toilet in freezing temperatures. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela
Lazarova.
More
MailboxMailbox
This week we talk about Czech Christmas carols, the honey cake and graffiti
in Prague. We quote from letters sent by: Paul Goeltz, US; Jonathan
Ryshpan, US; Steve Ashton, UK; Ben Vreke, Australia.
More
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