Arnost Parsch, born on 12 February 1936 at Bucovice, started with professional studies of composition relatively late. He joined the composition class of the Janacek Academy of Arts in Brno as a man of 27 years, economist by profession who, nevertheless, had already knowledge of theory and bases of composition, acquired by autodidactic study of 20th century music scores and at private lessons from composers J. Podesva and M. Istvan. Then he already had a clean-cut orientation determined by the results of the post-Webern development of European music.
One year after graduation from the Janacek Academy he left his original profession to become Secretary of the Brno Regional section of the Union of Czechoslovak Composers and Concert Artists. In 1977 he became Secretary and Head of Secretariat of the Brno International Music Festival. In the course of his studies of composition he was testing serial, dodecaphonic, aleatoric and timbre techniques in chamber compositions, sought inspiration in graphic scores and sculpture (Trasposizioni I, II, III) and outstanding performing capacities of prominent contemporary instrumentalists. Very fruitful was his co-operation with the Due Boemi ensemble - he wrote for them several compositions. From among them, especially Les Fleurs for bass-clarinet and piano meet with constant response among the public abroad. His liking for cybernetics and electro-acoustic instruments led him to electroacoustic studios of Czechoslovak Radio in Brno and Plzen, where he realised a series of his electroacoustic and concrete music projects. At the turn of the sixties he participated, within a team of composers from Brno, in the creation of several experimental collective compositions.
He has also co-operated with his friend M. Stedron, a composer and musicologist, in a number of original compositions, historical music realisations and in the composition of film and incidental music. Distinct leaning towards musical folklore has been a new element in Parsch´s creation since first half of seventies. Besides Latin American, Moravian folk music intonations appeared already in the third movement of Second String Quartet of 1973, dedicated to the memory of P. Neruda. Gradually he has been abandoning direct quotations of folk resources and, reaching to the oldest roots of Moravian folk song, he develops the methods of its treatment by modal technique, which is closest to his melodic-harmonic character.
Web: http://www.musica.cz/comp/parsch.htm