Hurník, Ilja

Ilja Hurník (1922 – 2013) was a Czech composer, pianist, music teacher, playwright and writer. The versatility of his talent was evident from childhood. At the age of six he wrote his first songs based on his own texts, and at the age of eleven his piano pieces were published. Hurník's compositional legacy has more than a hundred items and includes almost all musical genres - from small compositions for children to songs, choirs and chamber pieces to cantatas, operas, ballets and symphonies. He worked as a pedagogue for many years at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and at the conservatory in Prague, where he taught three subjects - piano, chamber music and composition.