This study presents a history and analysis of the Prague musical community from 1900 until the end of democracy in 1938. 'Opera and Ideology in Prague' not only narrates the fascinating history of a local musical community but also reveals much about music and culture in Europe. The fin-de-siècle period was dominated by the musicologist Zdenek Nejedly's polemics regarding the competing 'legacies' of Smetana and Dvorák and the merits of modernism. After Czech independence in 1918, a new generation of musicians accepted modernist foreign influences only with extreme hesitation. The 1926 Prague premiere of Berg's opera 'Wozzeck' and the ascendancy of a young group of avant-garde composers changed the cultural climate entirely, providing new ground for the exploration of jazz, neo-classicism, quarter tones, and socialist music. As the Czechoslovak Republic drew to a close, a resurgence of nationalism appeared in the musical expressions of both Czechs and German-Bohemians. The analyses of operas and tone poems by Novák, Ostrcil, Zich, Jeremiás, Hába, Kricka, and Suk provide a cross-section of musical life in early twentieth-century Prague, as well as a series of interpretations of Czech cultural identity. Populist endeavors such as jazz and neo-classicism represented some of the ways in which composers of the 1930s attempted to regain an audience alienated by modernism: in this respect, the trends in Prague mirrored those of the rest of Europe. Brian Locke is assistant professor of music history at Western Illinois University, Macomb. He has written extensively on twentieth-century music, including Czech operatic and symphonic works and Alban Berg's 'Wozzeck'.

A most impressive achievement and a major work of scholarship of the period. There is nothing in any language that quite matches its range and depth.'

John Tyrrell Source: Twentieth-Century Music

This is truly a landmark book, filling a gap in our knowledge and understanding of early twentieth-century Czech music and culture, and, in the process, illuminating events in the rest of Europe and in America. The author relates this fascinating account with an engaging style that makes one eager to read on. The music (including a good number of in-depth analyses), the political intrigues, the main characters and events -- all are presented with clarity and style based on solid research.'

Timothy Cheek Source: University of Michigan

Meticulously detailed. . . . [Locke shows] where Czech Modernism fits into the European landscape. . . . Besides treating in great detail . . . the main aesthetic and ideological debates of the Prague musical community, Locke provides extensive description and analysis of nine works that played an important role in the formation of Czech Modernism [by Novak, Suk, and others].'

Harlowe Robinson Source: Slavic andEast European Journal