Julie Reisserová Explained

Julie Reisserová née Kühnlova (9 October 1888 – 25 February 1938) was a Czech composer and music publicist.

Biography

Julie Reisserová was born in Prague. She studied piano with Adolf Mikeš and singing with Richard Figar. From 1919 until 1921 she studied composition in Prague with Josef Bohuslav Foerster. She continued her composition studies in Bern with Ernst Hohlfeld and with Albert Roussel (1924–1929) and Nadia Boulanger.

In 1921 she married Czech diplomat Jan Reisser (born 1891) and moved with him to Switzerland (1921–1929), Belgrade (1930–1933) and Copenhagen (1933–1936) while pursuing her career as a composer. Her work was performed in Bern, Paris, Geneva, Copenhagen and in Philadelphia.^[1]

Reisserová translated into Czech language Le testament de la tante Caroline (Aunt Caroline's Last Will), by operetta by composer Albert Roussel and librettist Nino (Michel Veber). The operetta premiered on 14 November 1936 in Olomouc and was also staged on 18 April 1937 in Prague.^{[2] [3]}

She died in Prague in 1938, age 49.

Selected works

Notable works include:^[4]

Orchestral music

• Suite for Orchestra (cs|Suita pro orchestr|link=no), 1928–1931
• Pastorale Maritime for Orchestra (cs|Pastorale Maritimo pro orchestr|link=no), 1933
• Early Spring (cs|Předjaří|link=no), 1936

Solo piano

• Esquisses, 1935
• Deux Allegros

Vocal music

• March (cs|Březen|link=no; orchestral songs), 1934
• Sous la neige (cs|Pod sněhem|link=no, ; song cycle for voice and piano), 1936
• Festive Day (cs|Slavnostní den|link=no; for women's choir), 1936, dedicated to Františka Plamínková

In 1934 Reisserová also published In Margin Vitae, a book of her poems written in Czech, German, French and English.

Recordings

Esquisses nos. 1 et 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQHy4LElE4k (Yuliya Minina, piano).

Further reading

• Jean-Paul C. Montagnier, "Autour de la Pastorale maritimo de Julie Reisserová (1888–1938)", Revue belge de musicologie, 74 (2020), pp. 143–166.
• Jean-Paul C. Montagnier, "Julie Reisserová (1888–1938): A Czech Woman Composer of Importance", in It’s a Man’s World? Künstlerinnen in Europas Musik-Metropolen des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts. Edited by Kaï Hinrich Müller and Sabine Meine. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann GmbH, 2023, pp. 157–167.
• Julie Reisserová, Oeuvres pour orchestre. Orchestral Works, edited by Jean-Paul C. Montagnier. Berlin: Ries & Erler, 2022.
• Julie Reisserová, Březen. Version pour orchestre / Orchestral Version, edited by Jean-Paul C. Montagnier. Berlin: Ries & Erler, 2023.
• Julie Reisserová, Musique de chambre / Chamber Music, edited by Jean-Paul C. Montagnier. Berlin: Ries & Erler, 2023.

Notes and References

1. Book: Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 7. Sir George. Grove. George Grove. Eric. Blom. Eric Blom. 1954. Macmillan. 9780333191743.
2. Prague opera premieres. Opera. Prague State Opera. 3. 76. Spring 2008. 35. en, cs. 27 October 2010.
3. Skladatelka Julie Reisserová o sobě. Composer Julie Reisserová about herself. . 7. 6. 1931-10-22. 44–45. cs. 26 June 2024. Závada. Vilém.
4. Web site: Karla Hartl . Women in Czech music – Julie Reisserová. Kapralova Society. 26 June 2024., republished in: Book: Karla Hartl . Komponistinnen in Tschechien . Christel Nies . Entdeckt und uraufgeführt – Komponistinnen und ihr Werk IV . 2010 . . 978-3-89958-942-9 . 232–247 . http://www.uni-kassel.de/upress/online/frei/978-3-89958-942-9.volltext.frei.pdf . de.