"Co zla již natropila tato domnělá ideovost!" : změna kritických postojů Vladimíra Helferta po přesídlení z Prahy do Brna

Abstract

After 1911, tendencies appeared in the Czech music culture to eliminate Antonín Dvořák. They were initiated by Zdeněk Nejedlý. As Nejedlý was not able to support his opinions by musical analysis, he created his own hierarchy of values based on ideological character of a musical composition. Vladimír Helfer, a Nejedlý's follower, adopted this opinion and became the protagonist of "Dvořák Affair". He made a contribution with a theory on low Czech musicianship of the Counter-Reformation period - so-called "dark ages" - and labelled Dvořák as a representative of this musicianship. After war Vladimír Helfert moved from Prague to Brno and the new environment changed him completely. He totally reassessed his opinion of Dvořák and the ideological character of music and in 1935 published opinions opposite to those he held twenty years ago, including a lamentation "what an evil has this ideological bias already done".

Keywords

• Vladimír Helfert
• Zdeněk Nejedlý
• Antonín Dvořák
• ideological bias