Emil František Burian
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Emil František Burian | |
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Born | 11 June 1904 |
Died | 9 August 1959 | (aged 55)
Resting place | Vyšehrad Cemetery |
Children | Jan Burian, Kateřina Burianová |
Parent | Emil Burian |
Emil František Burian (11 June 1904 – 9 August 1959) was a
Early life and career
Burian was born in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia, where he came from a musical family. His father, Emil Burian, was an opera singer. E. F. Burian himself is the father of singer and writer Jan Burian. He studied under the tutelage of J. B. Foerster at Prague Conservatory, whence he graduated in 1927, but had begun participating in cultural life much sooner. Along with Karel Teige and Vítězslav Nezval, E. F. Burian was a key member of Devětsil, an association of Czech avant-garde artists in the 1920s.[1]
In 1926–1927 he worked with Osvobozené divadlo, but after disputes with Jindřich Honzl, he and Jiří Frejka left the theatre. Later they founded their own theatre, Da-Da. He also worked with the Moderní studio theatre scene. In 1927 he founded the musical and elocutionary ensemble Voiceband.
In 1923 Burian joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. His work, strongly influenced by communist ideas, bordered on political agitation. In May 1933 he founded the D 34 theatre, with a strongly leftist-oriented program.
Life in concentration camps
In 1941 Burian was arrested and spent the rest of
Post-war period
After the war, he founded D 46 and D 47 theatre, and led theatres in
Burian died in 1959 in Prague.
Work
His work, deeply influenced by dadaism, futurism and poetism, was leftist-oriented. After the war it proved to agitate Communist ideas. He had a strong influence on Czech modern theatre, and his innovative staging methods (work with metaphor, poetry, and symbols) and inventions (theatergraph, voiceband) are inspirational for the theatre even now.
References
- ^ Gafijczuk, D., & Sayer, D., The Inhabited Ruins of Central Europe: Re-imagining Space, History, and Memory (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), p. 149.
Further reading
- Česká divadla. Encyklopedie divadelních souborů. Prague: ISBN 80-7008-107-4
- Čeští skladatelé současnosti. Prague: Panton, 1985.