Waldemar Matuška at His First U.S. Recording Session

I was recently asked to provide some photographs which I took back in the 1980’s for an exhibit at the Waldemar Matuška museum in the Czech Republic. And while searching for them, I came across the photographs I took of the album cover photo shoot for Teče, voda, Teče, as well as of the recording session for...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

May 15, 2017

Listen to KTO Kamarádi Táborových Ohňů

Sometimes the best way to relax is to sit back with friends around a flickering campfire, pull out the instruments, and write a tune… That is exactly how the Czech country band KTO started. Kamarádi Táborových Ohňů (KTO) seriously translates to Friends of Campfires. Today we are sharing a few of their hits from the...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

March 21, 2017

Czech Composer Rudolf Friml and American Music

Charles Rudolf Friml was born on December 7, 1879 in Prague. The son of a baker, he already showed aptitude for music at an early age and entered the Prague Conservatory in 1895, where he studied the piano and composition with Antonín Dvořák. Passionate about music, he was expelled from the conservatory in 1901 for performing without...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

Moravian-Muse-Love-Letters-Janacek-TresBohemes

March 8, 2017

The Moravian Muse Who Inspired Music

Yes, love inspires music. At 63, Czech composer Leoš Janáček met his Moravian muse, Kamila Stösslová, and through years of writing to her and composing as a way to further experess his feelings, his greatest works were created. Sometimes the words we say are not as important or as telling as the words we write...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

February 20, 2017

Czech Composer Who Was Honored with Pulitzer Prize

Karel Husa, one of the most distinguished and admired composers of the second half of the 20th century, was honored in 1969 with the Pulitzer Prize. Karel Husa was born in Prague on August 7, 1921. He learned to play violin and piano at an early age and after the completion of the high school,...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

January 23, 2017

L’Opera Barocca – Prague’s Institute of Baroque Culture

L’Opera Barocca is a institute of Baroque culture which supplies Czech people living in Prague and tourists with nightly baroque performances. They host many opera shows throughout the year, but their annual Opera Barocca Festival which features Baroque music, dance, and festivities, is the most popular. Almost all of Opera Barocca’s programs take place at the beautiful Clam-Gallas Palace. The...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

November 29, 2016

The Magic Voice of a Rebel

The Magic Voice of a Rebel, Marta Kubišová, was born in České Budějovice in 1942. She was synonymous with the Czech pop boom of the 1960s. She was a three-time winner of the Golden Nightingale music award and had a stellar career and future ahead of her… But then it all ended in 1968 with the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Because...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

November 15, 2016

The Moody Blues Perform in Prague – August 20, 1968

The first thing you’ll likely notice about this post is the date. August 20, 1968. Wait… Wasn’t that the eve of the Soviet invasion? Yes. It was. On the evening of August 20, 1968, the Soviets mobilized and struck like lightning. The initiated a massive invasion and by the morning of August 21, Prague alone...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

November 8, 2016

Louis Armstrong in Prague

When Louis Armstrong visited Prague in March of 1965, at which time he was truly an international star. While groups such as the Beatles were emerging, Armstrong still led the charts with the song, Hello Dolly. It’s still a big mystery as to how Frantisek Spurný arranged for Louis Armstrong to agree to no less than nine – yes...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

October 15, 2016

Groovy Dance Party with Karel Gott

We’re feeling a little groovy today and we’ve been listening to old vintage Karel Gott YouTube videos from the 60s and having a blast. So much so we’ve decided to let you in on the party. Welcome to the groovy dance party with Karel Gott! Turn on your speakers, enjoy and make sure to pay...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

October 10, 2016

Tramp Music Songbook Covers Pre-1940s

Czech trampská hudba, also known as Czech tramping or tramp music and tramping songs, known as trampská píseň, or trampske písničky are a style of song and music associated with an activity known as tramping. Originating in the early 1900’s, many say it was right after WWI that the sound came to then called Czechoslovakia....

ENTERTAINMENT, Music, NOSTALGIA, Periodicals, Tramping

July 9, 2016

How Music Can Change Your Mood

Similar to the way when a child is raised listening to one accent, he or she is most likely going to grow up speaking with that accent. Not because he or she does not know that others exist but rather because it is the one it is the one heard most. Music is the same except...

LIFESTYLE, Shopping

frantisek-hilmar-kytka-FM-Hilmar-Frantisek-Matej-Hilmar-Polka

June 28, 2016

František Hilmar, Father of the Polka

Here is something that most of you may not know about our family… My father can trace his history back to around 1648, when the first Hilmar (Hylmar) came from Swedish/Nordic territory to Košťanech (in what’s now known as the Czech Republic) as a soldier in the Thirty Years’ War. He settled and made his...

Bohemians, CULTURE, LIFESTYLE, Music

June 27, 2016

Listen: Czech Folk or Tramp Songs

If you go into any old Czech bar that plays Folk music you will find at least one of these songs the track-list. These are songs that my grandparents used to sing around the campfire during communism when this music wasn’t even allowed. This type of music isn’t for everyone but for my grandparents it...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music, Tramping

February 5, 2016

Dvořák’s String Quintet by Candlelight

In this video by Denis Rochard, a group of five talented musicians perform Dvořák’s String Quintet in G major Op.77. The musicians perform the quintet by candlelight, giving the video a warm, intimate atmosphere. The music is clear and energetic, the atmosphere is haunting, and the filming is smooth and artistic. Surrounded by candles and chandeliers, the musicians perform the song...

CULTURE, Music

November 23, 2015

Prague’s Coolest Music Video with INXS

There are few cities in the world that have been immortalised in a music video to the extent of Prague in Never Tear Us Apart, the 1988 hit from Australian rock band INXS. Yes… We do agree that it is Prague’s Coolest Music Video. In the video, a very sexy and brooding Michael Hutchence takes a...

CULTURE, Music