Ladislav Burlas (3 April 1927 – 11 February 2024) was a Slovak composer and musicologist. He worked at the institute of musicology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava from 1951 to 1990, as director of the institution from 1964 to 1974. The focus of his studies was the music history of Slovakia, especially of the 20th century. He was dean of the faculty of performing arts at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica from 2001 to 2005. He composed music in many genres with a focus on choral music and educational pieces.
Life and career
Born in Trnava on 3 April 1927,[1][2] he completed school there in 1946 and studied from 1946 to 1951, composition with Alexander Moyzes and conducting at the Bratislava Conservatory [de] and musicology at the Comenius University. He gained a PhD with a dissertation, "Cantus Catholici – prispevok k analýze hudby feudálnej spoločnosti na Slovensku" (Cantus Catholici – a contribution to the analysis of music in the feudal society of Slovakia). From 1951 he studied composition further with Moyzes, then at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.[2] He worked at the Institute of Musicology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava from 1951 to 1990, serving as director from 1964 to 1974. He also lectured music history and music theory at the university, the Academy of Performing Arts and other universities.[1] He wrote his habilitation in 1966, becoming associate professor in 1967, and was appointed professor in 1993.[1][2] He was dean of the faculty of performing arts at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica from 2001 to 2005.[1][3]
Burlas composed in many genres, for orchestra, chamber music, piano music and other works for solo instruments, with a focus on choral music and educational pieces. He also wrote music for documentaries and arrangements of folk songs.[1]
His musicological publications covered topics such as older and younger Slovak music history, music theory, and the founders of Slovak contemporary music in the 20th century including Eugen Suchoň, Alexander Moyzes and Ján Cikker. He authored more than 150 books, monographs, scientific texts, articles and reflections.[1] In 1998 he created an audio record of his memories. It was used for a 2017 book, then titled The Coordinates of my Life.[4]
Burlas died in Bratislava on 11 February 2024, at the age of 96.[5]
2006: Gold medal of Matej Bel-Universität Banská Bystrica
2008: Pribina Cross for contributions of the cultural development of Slovakia
2010: Pavel Strauss Award, for merits in culture and art
2018: Prize of the ministry of culture of Slovakia for his life's work for Slovak music culture
2021: Jozef Kresánek Prize for his musicological work
Publications
Musicology
Musicological publications by Burlas include:[1][7]
Realistické tradície slovenskej hudby (True traditions of Slovak music), Martin, 1952
Alexander Moyzes, Bratislava, 1956
Slovenská hudobná moderna (Slovak modern music), Obzor, Bratislava, 1983
Pohľady na súčasnú slovenskú hudobnú kultúru (Insight in contemporary Slovak music culture), Bratislava, 1987
Teória hudobnej pedagogiky (Theory of music pedagogy), Prešov, 1997
Hudba – komunikatívny dynamizmus (Music – communicative dynamics), Bratislava, 1998
Hudba – želania a rezultáty: zobrané muzikologické spisy z rokov 1957–1999 (Music – wishes and results: collected musicological writings 1957–1999), Bratislava, 2000
A History of Slovak Music: From the Earliest Times to the Present, VEDA, 2003 (translated by Martin Styan)
Slávka Kopćáková (ed.): Ladislav Burlas and the Slovak Music Culture University of Presov Press, 2017[4]
Organ Concerto – Ferdinand Klinda (organ), Slovak Radio Orchstra, cond. Ondrej Lenárd – in: Organ Compositions, with music by Eugen Suchoň (Opus, 1996)
Sonata for violin solo – Dalibor Karvay (Opus, 1996)
Padá lístie zlaté (Golden Leaves are Falling) – children's choir Bratislava, cond. Ondrej Šaray – in: Bratislavský Detský Zbor (Discant, 2000)
Svadobné spevy z Horehronia (Wedding Songs from Upper Hron) – Lúčnica Choir, cond. Miroslav Šmíd – in: The Best of Lúčnica Chorus (Musica, 2006)
Metamorfózy krás (Metamorphoses of Beauties ) – Peter Michalica (violin), Lúčnica Choir, cond. Štefan Klimo – in: Dr. Štefan Klimo: Za tou mojou milou (Ol Trade, 2009)
Kadenz, Sonatina, Kadenz Nr. 2, Sonata, Konzertsonate – Milan Paľa (violin) – Violin Solo 1 – Milan Paľa (Pavlík Records, CD 2010)[9]
Sonata for violin solo – Koji Morishita (violin) – in: Suite Buenos Aires (Meister Music, 2012)
