Radim Drejsl

Radim Drejsl (29 April 1923 – 20 April 1953) was a Czech composer, pianist and conductor. He is considered an important composer of politically engaged songs promoting visions of Czechoslovak communist regime in the 1950s. Drejsl applied the ideas of socialist realism in his music. Biography Drejsl was born on 29 April 1923 in Dobruška, Czechoslovakia. Following his graduation at the gymnasium in Rychnov nad Kněžnou in 1942 he continued his studies at the Prague Conservatory. From 1942 to 1946 he studied composition with Karel Janeček and Pavel Bořkovec; and conducting as a pupil of Pavel Dědeček. Later (from 1946 to 1950) he deepened his musical skills at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. In 1949 he became director of the Vít Nejedlý Army Artistic Ensemble (Armádní umělecký soubor Víta Nejedlého) in Prague. In April, 1953, shortly after his return to Prague from the Soviet Union, Drejsl committed suicide. He was allegedly so disappointed by the terrible life conditions in the Soviet communist world that his enthusiastic devotion to the communist ideas was destroyed. However, the speculations of murder were unproven. His alleged suicide has been identified by communists as