Karel Janovický

Karel Janovický (18 February 1930 – 9 January 2024) was a Czech composer, pianist, BBC producer and administrator who lived in the United Kingdom from 1950. He was one of the youngest of the group of European émigré composers who came to live and work in Britain during the 1930s and 1940s to avoid persecution at home. Education and career Janovický was born in Plzeň as Bohuš František Šimsa. He was the son of Bohuslav Šimsa, a baritone soloist at the Plzeň Opera. Growing up under the German occupation, he studied piano from an early age and later composition with Josef Bartovský (1884–1964). In 1949 he was unsuccessful in applying to study at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU) for political reasons. (The Czech coup of February 1948 had resulted in Communist Party control over the Czech Government). So in October of that year he left with his future wife Sylva Maiwaldová for Germany, arriving a year later in England. Once there he continued his studies: first at the Surrey College of Music, Fitznells Manor in Ewell under Percy Turnbull; then at The Royal College of Music where he completed a Master of Music degree; and also privately with Matyas Seiber (composition) and