Jaroslav Ježek (composer)

Jaroslav Ježek (pronounced [ˈjaroslaf ˈjɛʒɛk]) (September 25, 1906 – January 1, 1942) was a Czech composer, pianist and conductor, author of jazz, classical, incidental and film music.

The first part of his work consists of chamber, piano and concertant compositions, created first under the influence of Stravinsky, of the Parisian Les Six and of Arnold Schoenberg.

He composed songs and dances for the revue plays of the Prague Free Theatre (The Ass and the Shadow, Caesar, The Headsman and the Fool e.g.) and also for the films of Voskovec and Werich (Pudr a benzín, The World Is Ours, Heave-Ho!).

Billed variously as "Ježek's Jazz" and "Ježkův swingband" they recorded for the Czech Ultraphon label, making some of the most original music in Europe.

Ježek's composition titled simply "Polonaisa" (1931; Ultraphon A10355) is a traditional Polonaise clothed in modern instrumentation, harmony and textures.

A seven-volume album retrospective of Voskovec and Werich's work for the Liberated Theater (1929–1938) containing the items mentioned above and dozens of others was issued by the Czech Supraphon label in 1994 (and reissued in 2007).