Karel Kryl
Karel Kryl | |
---|---|
graphic artist | |
Instruments | Guitar |
Years active | 1968–1994 |
Labels | Supraphon, Primaphon, Caston, Bonton, And the End Records |
Karel Kryl (12 April 1944 – 3 March 1994) was a
The lyrics of Kryl's songs are highly poetic and sophisticated, with perfect rhyming and a frequent use of metaphors and historical allusions. The sparse sounds of his guitar served to underscore the natural flow of the lyrics themselves. Kryl has been compared with the young Bob Dylan, because of the complexity of his lyrics, his accompaniment by a single acoustic guitar, and his great popularity.
Having lived for twenty years in forced exile, he was initially keen on the collapse of communism in his country, but very quickly he became bitterly and uncompromisingly critical of the new regime and its protagonists as well, including Václav Havel, and especially of those who were responsible for the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992.
Biography
Kryl was born on 12 April 1944 in
Kryl moved to
Kryl left Czechoslovakia in 1969 to attend a music festival at
In the enthusiastic November days of 1989, during the Velvet Revolution, Kryl returned to Czechoslovakia to attend his mother's funeral. At first he was thrilled with the end of totalitarianism, but he soon became openly disappointed with the course of transformation of the politics and society.[3] He continued to write protest songs (e.g. Demokracie, "Democracy") criticising politicians and others responsible for the failure of the country's transition to an authentic democracy, especially those who left the Communist party in or after 1989 and suddenly became 'democrats'. Kryl also attacked those who sought to manipulate the Czech and Slovak citizens by nationalist catchphrases and lies about economic transformation. Due to the conditions in the country that he considered unbearable, he decided to leave for Germany again. On 3 March 1994, just a month before his fiftieth birthday, Karel Kryl died of a heart attack in a Munich hospital.
Awards
- 1989 – the Jan Zahradníček award for Czech Poetry, from the Czechoslovak Literature Club in Los Angeles
- 1994 – a silver memorial medal from the Charles University for contributions to the spiritual development and the moral support of the nation
- 1995 – František Kriegl award
- 1995 – the Czech Grammy
- 1995 – Medal of Merit II. class from president Václav Havel
Bibliography
- Hraje a zpívá Karel Kryl
- Kníška Karla Kryla
- Sedm básniček na zrcadlo
- Pochyby
- 17 kryptogramů na dívčí jména
- (Zpod stolu) sebrané spisy
- Slovíčka
- Amoresky
- Z mého plíživota
- Zbraně pro Erató
- LOT
- Sněhurka v hadřících
- POD GRAFIKU
- Půlkacíř
- Texty písní
- Básně
- Krylogie+Půlkacíř
- Rozhovory
- Demokracie, aneb s malou vadou na kráse…
Discography
Karel Kryl only released one album in Czechoslovakia (Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka),[4] but he released many albums while in exile, a prominent example would be Tekuté písky.[5]
- Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka (1969, LP, Panton, ČSSR)
- Rakovina (1969, LP, Primaphon, Germany)
- Maškary (1970, LP, Caston, Germany)
- Carmina Resurrectionis (1974, EP, Caston, Germany)
- Karavana mraků (1979, LP, Šafrán 78, Sweden)
- Plaváček (1983)
- Ocelárna (1984, EP)
- Dopisy (1988, MC)
- Tekuté písky (1990, LP, MC, CD, Bonton, Czechoslovakia)
- Dvě půle lunety aneb rebelant o lásce (1992, recitation poems of Karel Kryl)
- Monology (1992, LP, CD, MC Janez, Czechoslovakia)
- To nejlepší 1 (1993, CD, MC, Bonton, Czech Republic)
- Děkuji (1995)
- Jedůfky (1996)
- To nejlepší 2 (1998)[5]
References
- ^ a b c Kryl, Karel. "Životopis". Marlen Kryl. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
- ^ Churaň, Milan. "KRYL Karel". KDO BYL KDO v našich dějinách ve 20. století. Nakladatelství Libri. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
- ISBN 80-7215-102-9.
- ^ Horáková, Pavla (August 22, 2006). "Radia.cz Article". Retrieved January 21, 2008.
- ^ a b "Kryl Discography". Retrieved June 25, 2009.
External links
Czech Wikiquote has quotations related to: Karel Kryl