Rudolf Ruzicka

The composer RUDOLF RŮŽIČKA (born Brno, April 25th 1941) is a distinguished personality in 20th century Czech music. Following his training at the Conservatoire of Music in Brno (1958-1962), Růžička studied composition there at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. The creative impact of his teachers Theodor Schaefer and Miloslav Ištvan (1962-1967) and that of Miloslav Kabeláč (1967-1969), a com­poser specializing in electroacoustic music, appears to have been of crucial importance in shaping the aesthetic and ra­tional ideas and thoughts of this future composer, music teacher, theoretician and writer.

Růžička's varied stylistic development, reflecting all the traditional values in the qualitative aspects of his extensive vocal, chamber and orchestral works, Tater crystallized roto his preoccupation with and dedication to the specific genre of electroacoustic and computer music. Rudolf Růžička, who had been harassed by the former communist regime for his whole­hearted defence of what was then known as the alternative art, stood up for the rights of experimental music, which was by that time growing in popularity with the public. The composer did his very best to introduce his own humanitarian and democratic principles and attitudes, not just in his work as a teacher in the field of electroacoustic and computer composi­tion at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts, where he has been since 1969 to this day. His compositions are noted for neo-avantgarde techniques, whereby a computer is used to calculate new entities of compositional material, with innova­tions to compositional process both in formal and structural terms. Rudolf Růžička embarked here on the road of searching for modern sources of inspiration, sharing in the shaping of what turned out to be a spontaneous counterpart to the over­abundant and omnipresent computer technology.

Over the years Rudolf Růžička's artistic endeavours have been rewarded on many occasions, primarily with the first prize in the international competition MUSICA NOVA, or­ganized in Czechoslovakia, for his composition Gurges (1970). His Tibia I, received the top prize at the Marcel Josse compe­tition in Paris (1984). This was followed by a host of other prizes and honorary diplomas as well as an invitation to lecture at the International Conference of Computer Music in Paris (1984), in Naples (1985), Darmstadt (1988), and else­where. Růžička's work has received also informal awards, notably his appointment in 1986, as a permanent member of the jury of the International Computer Music Competition NEWCOMP, an event annually held in Boston, U.S.A.
As for Rudolf Růžička's career of a composer, undoubt­edly mention should be made of his activities in the avant­garde "A" art group, his partnership with other Brno composers in creative teamwork, or his involvement in vari­ous domestic and foreign associations. Also noteworthy was Růžička's intense activity in the revived Society for Electroa­coustic Music and in the Electroacoustic Music Association of Great Britain, in the Paris-based Guide International des Arts Electroniques, the Computer Music Association in San Fran­cisco and his honorary membership of the Confederation of Chivalry in Sydney, Australia. Rudolf Růžička is now making use of his extensive musical knowledge and rich experience in producing his own radio programmes, giving specialized lectures, writing scientific papers and in popularizing the sphere of electroacoustic and computer music.

PhDr. Miroslav Kaduch, CSc.