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Commemoration for Karel Kryl in the Convent of St. Agnes
On the 5th of September, as part of the 'ANEŽKA LIVE!' summer season in the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia, a commemorative event will take place, marking 75 years since the birth and 25 years since the death of Karel Kryl, a creator and 'king' of the Czechoslovak protest-song and a symbol of resistance against communist totalitarianism.
Karel Kryl would celebrate his 75th birthday on the 12th of April this year. The famous singer and song-writer died 25 years ago of a heart attack in Munich only a few weeks before his fiftieth birthday.
Poet, songwriter and journalist
Karel Kryl was born on the 12th of April, 1944 in Kroměříž to a cultural family that owned a printing business, originally in Nový Jičín, at the time of the Nazi occupation in Kroměříž. After the communist takeover, the printing business was confiscated.
His first album, named after the title song ‘Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka’ (English: ‘Keep the Gate Closed, Little Brother’), was Kryl’s spontaneous reaction to the 1968 occupation. The album was released in 1969; however, it was later banned and removed from the shelves. The songwriter himself did not return from a music festival in West Germany in 1969 to prevent his inevitable imprisonment in the Czech Republic. He settled in Munich and worked as an editor for Radio Free Europe for 22 years, and continued to compose, write and perform for compatriots abroad.
Bitter return
After November 1989, Kryl enthusiastically returned to home stages, later he moved to Waldkirchen, a small German village near the Czech border, so he would live closer to home. However, he was bitterly disappointed with the course of transformation of the politics and society, and the failure of the country’s transition to an authentic democracy. He especially criticised “the changing of the cloaks”– the behaviour of those who left the Communist party in or after 1989 and suddenly became 'democrats'. He continued to write protest-songs and it is believed that his disappointment, along with the misunderstanding of the Czech people, contributed to his untimely death.
Kryl’s peers will commemorate him
Those who knew him personally will remember Karel Kryl in the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia. The evening’s host will be Martin Schulz, a colleague of Karel Kryl from his time at Radio Free Europe. Among the musicians who will perform will be Jaroslav Hutka and Svatopluk Karásek, and the actress Daniela Bakerová will recite Kryl’s poetry.
For further information, please visit: https://www.ngprague.cz/en/