Víťazoslav Kubička

Víťazoslav Kubička (1953) He is the author of 13 spiritual operas (including Martin Luther, Kristov dotyk [Christ's Touch], and the children's opera Betlehem [Bethlehem]), the vocal-symphonic Requiem, the cantata Šavlovo obrátenie [The Conversion of Saul], and many other works (600 stage and film scores). He received a UNESCO award for Fantasia for Flute and Piano (1979), the Ján Levoslav Bella Award (1988), and the Telemúz Award for stage music (1996).

"Kubicek's artistic work represents a unified path, at the beginning of which stands the assimilation of the traditions of 20th-century classical music. His main early source of inspiration was the work of L. Janáček and I. Stravinsky, but he also drew on the stylistic features and creative technology of I. Zeljenka. The musical process of his compositions grows out of distinctly rhythmically profiled motivic forms, which he subjects to economical evolutionary transformations. In his tectonic approach, he favors economy, conciseness, and brevity, which often result in fragmentariness. He is most closely associated with the chamber medium (especially the piano), to which he has devoted most of his work, but his oeuvre also includes several important electroacoustic and concertante compositions. Recently, the focus of his work has shifted to song composition. Kubička's direct impulse for musical creation is often non-musical in nature, and the visions and techniques of his compositions are often predetermined by the world of visual art. Kubicka's works have won several awards, the most significant of which is 9th place at the 1981 UNESCO International Composers' Tribune in Paris, awarded for his Fantasia for Flute and Piano, Op. 1.

(GODÁR, Vladimír: Víťazoslav Kubička. In: 100 Slovak Composers. Ed. Marián Jurík, Peter Zagar. Bratislava: National Music Center, 1998, pp. 163–164.)