RAFAEL KUBELÍK

ENGLISH 13
Rafael jeronÝm Kubelík
* born on 29 June 1914 in Bychory, near Kolín –
† died on 11 August 1996 in Kastanienbaum, near Lucerne
Rafael Kubelík was a philosopher, free thinker and democrat, someone
who was not willing to bow down to any kind of injustice – and
who never forced others to accept his way of thinking. Despite his patriotic
convictions, he lived in exile for decades following the seizure of power by the
late Stalinistic satellite regime and first visited his Czech home country after the
peaceful November revolution of 1989: he temporarily came out of retirement
to conduct an acclaimed comeback of Smetana’s cycle Má vlast (My Fatherland)
in Prague on 12 April 1990, the six symphonic poems boasting a unique musical
concentration of Czech national pride. This was merely a physical return for
Kubelík; deep down inside he had never been away: “I may have left my country
but I never left my people. My people were with me all the time, in my heart.”
Rafael Kubelík was the sixth of the eight children born to Bohemian violinist Jan
Kubelík (one of the most famous musicians of the first half of the 20 th century)
and Countess Marianne Csaky-Szell (who came from a long line of Hungarian
nobles). Rafael’s mother made sure the family was surrounded by art; the
countess herself was interested in literature, painting and philosophy and also
had comprehensive general knowledge. However, it was first and foremost
music that was at the heart of family life, and it comes as no surprise that the
children learned to play instruments as a matter of course. Rafael’s oldest
sisters (of a total of five older sisters), the twins Anita and Mary, both became
professional violinists and made a name for themselves as a violin duo – chamber
music making was an integral part of everyday family life – and it was obvious
from an early age that little Rafael was blessed with incredible musical talent;
he was duly given lessons on two instruments and his father was particularly
proud of him: “My oldest son is the most talented. He’ll probably achieve great
things one day. He is now eleven, plays violin and piano exceptionally well, can
sightread scores and has a good knowledge of orchestras. He recently glanced
at an orchestration I was working on and said, I should add a horn at a certain
place – and he was right!” It also proved to be advantageous for the young
boy’s future plans that his uncle went through all the important symphonies
with him at the piano, in arrangements for four hands.
Kubelík studied at Prague Conservatory between 1928 and 1934, adding
composition and conducting as main subjects to accompany his instrumental
training. He accompanied his father on piano with increasing frequency during
his student days, also going on concert tours with him – these tours not only
took him throughout Europe but also took in America and Australia. Kubelík