(bRychnov nad Kneznou, 9 Jan 1955). Czech composer. He studied theory, composition (with Zouhar) and electronic music at the Brno Academy, and in 1983 was appointed editor-producer at Czechoslovak Radio in Prague. In 1996 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His works have been performed at the Bourges, Stockholm, Paris (UNESCO) and Linz international festivals of electro-acoustic music and at the Münchener Biennale, which commissioned from Jirásek the percussion piece Bread and Circuses. His St Luke Passion, commissioned by the Kulturzentrum Gasteig in Munich, is a reconstruction of Carl Orff's lost stage version of the Lukaspassion attributed to J.S. Bach (which survives only in manuscript). His musical language is based on simple material incorporated into sophisticated musical structures. He absorbs a wide range of stylistic elements, including those of extra-European cultures and genres such as folk, pop, rock and film music. He received the prize of the Czech Music Fund in 1991, and in 1998 was awarded the Czech Lion for his contribution to film music.
WORKS
(selective list)
But it does Move, orch, opt. synths, 1984; Labyrinth, fl, untrained, male v, elecs, 1986; Ad unum, org, 1988; Katharsis, fl, vn, vc, hpd, 1990; Bread and Circuses, 6 perc, 1992; Missa propria, mixed/boys' chorus, 1993; St Luke Passion, solo vv, chorus, orch, hpd, org, perc, 1995 [after J.S. Bach and C. Orff]; Forgotten Metaphor, vn, pf, 1996; Private Message, S, mixed/boys' chorus, chbr orch, perc, 1997; On my Own, perc, 1998; Te laudamus, mixed/boys' chorus, 1998