Master of Fine Arts Jaroslav Šaroun

“Jaroslav Mihule, who is a specialist on Martinů, was to compose the music for them but he refused, probably because he did not have time. Time was running out and they did not have a composer who would create the music for them. They mentioned this to a woman who took care of them in that recreational facility and she thus sent them to us. (the composition’s choreographers Mr. Appelt, Mr. Libra and Mr. Svatoň). When they came to me they found me digging a hole in the ground, because we were installing a septic tank. They told me why they came and I invited them to come upstairs and I let them listen to the recording of my symphony so that they would know what they were buying and what kind of music I composed. They came with an idea that the male element should be somewhat more symphonic, and my composition thus suited them well. They had already prepared a concept, with the number of parts and their beginnings and a description of what would be performed during them. One of them even sang the initial tune to me. I actually later used it in the final composition. I completed four parts in several days, and then I struggled with the last one for several months. Afterwards I recorded it on the piano and they eventually synchronized it with the exercise. Half a year later it was performed in the Sokol gym in Újezd. Two groups rehearsed this performance and it got into the final stage where it awaited the decision whether it would be accepted or not”

“Then there was the second hockey game in the World Championship in March 1969 when they succeeded. I was in Disk in Karlova Street at the time: we had a great opera studio in the Unitaria building and we performed The Marriage of Figaro there. I remember that as we were in the middle of the play, a cardboard sign appeared somewhere in the back of the audience and it announced the score. This happened several times and the score was getting better and better and it was always followed by great cheering. When the performance was over, I left the theatre and I walked over Charles Bridge and up Nerudova Street to the Army Artistic Ensemble in Pohořelec. When I crossed the tram tracks in front of Charles Bridge, I could see many people in the streets. It was already getting dark. Cars had their lights on and they were honking the horns. All the people hurriedly headed in one direction, as if it had been organized, but there were no mobile phones or internet at that time. Praguers spontaneously rushed to the statue of St Wenceslav to celebrate our hockey team and to alleviate their own pain at least a bit. There were great crowds rushing against me on Charles Bridge, and it seemed strange. There were hundreds of people, and only several people, including me, walked in the opposite direction.”