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Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Robert Kurka
Person · male · United States · Cicero · born 1921 · died 1957 · recording since 2002
American musician and composer (1921–1957)
Also known as Robert Frank Kurka · ロバート・クルカ
Timeline
7 events✦ Award 2▣ Album 2◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1920s
1950s
2000s
· Debut release
Debut release: The Good Soldier Schweik
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: Symphony no. 2 / Julius Caesar / Music for Orchestra / Serenade for Small Orchestra
Album
source: musicbrainz
Biography
English biography517 words · 9 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1330461542
Biography
Robert Frank Kurka (December 22, 1921 – December 12, 1957) was an American composer, who also taught and conducted his own works.
Biography
Kurka was born in Cicero, Illinois. He was mostly self-taught as a musician. He studied for short periods under Darius Milhaud and Otto Luening, and received his Master of Arts degree in music from Columbia University in 1948. After that he lived most of his life in New York.
Kurka held teaching positions at City College of New York, Queens College and Dartmouth College. He wrote a total of two symphonies, five string quartets, six violin sonatas, and other works for piano, voice, and chorus.
He is probably best known for the instrumental suite, The Good Soldier Schweik. This was inspired by Jaroslav Hašek's anti-war novel The Good Soldier Schweik, published in English translation in 1956.
Kurka expanded his music for an opera of the same name, completed just before his death in 1957. The libretto was written by Abe Meeropol of New York, who in 1937 had written the song, "Strange Fruit" about lynchings in the American South.
The opera's orchestration was completed by Hershy Kay. The Good Soldier Schweik premiered at the New York City Opera on April 23, 1958. Its music attracted critical comparisons to the compositions of Kurt Weill, especially for its satirical, ironic bent and incorporation of popular styles.
Kurka died of leukemia on December 12, 1957, in New York City.
Full orchestra
Music for Orchestra, Op. 11 (1949)
Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 15
Symphony No. 1, Op. 17 (1951)
Symphony No. 2, Op. 24 (1952)
Serenade for (Small) orchestra "after Walt Whitman", Op. 25 (publ. 1954; composed probably around 1945)
John Henry, Portrait for Orchestra, Op. 27
Julius Caesar, Symphonic Epilogue After Shakespeare's Play, Op. 28 (1955)
Chamber orchestra
Chamber Symphony, Op. 3 (1948)
Symphony for Strings and Brass, Op. 7 (1948)
The Good Soldier Schweik, Suite from the Opera, for band, Op. 22
Chamber Sinfonietta, Op. 39 (1957)
Concertos
Concerto for violin and chamber orchestra, Op. 8 (1948)
Concertino for two pianos, string orchestra and trumpet obbligato, Op. 31 (1955)
Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra, Op. 34
Ballad for French Horn and Strings, Op. 36
String quartets
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 1
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 4
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 9
String Quartet No. 4, Op. 12
String Quartet No. 5, Op. 25
Other chamber works
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, Op. 2
Sonata for Solo violin, Op. 5
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2, Op. 10
Music for Violin, Trumpet, Clarinet, Horn and Bass, Op. 14
Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 16
Little Suite for Woodwing Quartet, Op. 18
Sonatina for Cello and Piano, Op. 21
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3, Op. 23
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 4, Op. 30
Piano works
Sonatina, Op. 6
For the Piano, Op. 13
Sonata, Op. 20
Dance Suite for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 29
Sonatina for Young Persons, Op. 40 (1957)
Notes from Nature, 10 pieces for children
Choral works
Who Shall Speak for the People, for men’s chorus, Op. 32
Song of the Broadaxe, for men’s chorus, Op. 38
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 8 | 49.7th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 2 | 75.7th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 2 | 92.6th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -45 | 6.8th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (2 release groups · 2 studio albums)
Albums · 2
2002 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 43 tracks · 1:43:23
Disc 11The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Overture3:112The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Prologue: Gentleman of Bohemia "Dámi a Páni!"2:203The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene One - Schweik's Flat in Prague: Mrs. Muller "So They Killed Ferdinand!"3:334The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Two - The Flagon (a Tavern): Bretschneider "We're Having a Very Fine Summer"6:425The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Three - Police Headquarters: Pantomime Dance1:536The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Three - Police Headquarters: Schweik "Good Evening, Gentlemen, I Hope You're All Well."3:157The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Four - A Cell: Schweik "Good Evening, Ev'rybody, It's Been a Lovely Day."2:178The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Four - A Cell: Schweik "We're All in a Hell of a Mess"1:259The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Four - A Cell: Schweik "It's Great Fun"1:5610The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Five - Another Room in Police Headquarters: 1st Psychiatrist "The Ego and the Id…"2:5711The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Six - The Insane Asylum: Schweik "I Never Felt so Good Before…"2:2212The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Six - The Insane Asylum: Furiant2:1713The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Six - The Insane Asylum: 1st Doctor "Achtung!"0:4414The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Six - The Insane Asylum: Schweik "Who Will Go to The War When it Comes?"4:1415The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Six - The Insane Asylum: 2nd Doctor "Have They Ever Examined the State of Your Mind?"1:4316The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Seven, Part 1 - Schweik’s Flat: Schweik "Mrs. Muller!…"1:3517The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Seven, Part 1 - Schweik’s Flat: Schweik "Oh, the Gen’rals…"1:0418The Good Soldier Schweik, Act I: Scene Seven, Part 2 - The Street Below Schweik's Flat: Schweik "To Belgrade!"1:50Disc 21The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Prelude (March)2:512The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene One - Army Infirmary: Consumptive "O-o-oh!"0:583The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene One - Army Infirmary: 1st Malingerer "Just Look at Me…"1:504The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene One - Army Infirmary: Sergeant "Achtung!"1:145The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene One - Army Infirmary: Doctor "Aha, Rheumatism!…"3:276The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene One - Army Infirmary: Sergeant "Baroness von Botzenheim…"4:047The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Two - (A) Detention Barracks: Schweik "I Always Thought the Army…"2:508The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Two - (B) Army Chapel: "Chaplain "Okay, Let’s Pray!"4:349The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Two - (C) Chaplain’s Room: Chaplain "Why Bless My Soul…"1:2810The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Three - Lieutenant Lukash’s Flat: Lt. Lukash "Well, Schweik, How’d Things Go Today?"3:4911The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Three - Lieutenant Lukash’s Flat: Col. Zillergut: "Fox! Fox! Come Here Boy…"1:3412The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Three - Lieutenant Lukash’s Flat: Sextet2:3513The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Four - Budejovice Express / Station Platform: Lt. Lukash "So You Let One of Our Trunks Get Stolen…"3:3114The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Four - Budejovice Express / Station Platform: Passengers "What Happened?…"1:0715The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Five - A Private Room in a Small Cafe in Budejovice: Lt. Lukash "Dear Madame…"4:1516The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Five - A Private Room in a Small Cafe in Budejovice: Lt. Lukash "…Come in!"1:4417The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Six - Soprony Street / "The Red Lamb" (a Tavern): Voditchka "Schweik!"0:3018The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Six - Soprony Street / "The Red Lamb" (a Tavern): Tavern Patrons "Fill Up and Drink Up and Fill Up Again…"0:5719The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Six - Soprony Street / "The Red Lamb" (a Tavern): Polka2:5920The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Six - Soprony Street / "The Red Lamb" (a Tavern): Schweik "Sixteen Soprony, Madame Kakonyi"1:4421The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Seven (A) - A Dugout at the Front: Lt. Lukash "Well, Schweik…"2:5922The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Seven (B) - The Front: Soldiers "Wait for the Ragged Soldiers…"3:2923The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Seven (B) - The Front: Vanek "Now We Go to the Right."0:3824The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Scene Seven (B) - The Front: Schweik "I’ll Take a Quiet Road…"1:3625The Good Soldier Schweik, Act II: Epilogue: Gentleman of Bohemia "Schweik, Schweik, Where Did He Go?"1:22Symphony no. 2 / Julius Caesar / Music for Orchestra / Serenade for Small Orchestra
2004 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:03:20
1Julius Caesar, Symphonic Epilogue after Shakespeare, op. 288:522Symphony no. 2, op. 24: Allegro molto7:573Symphony no. 2, op. 24: Andante espressivo6:394Symphony no. 2, op. 24: Presto gioioso6:365Music for Orchestra, op. 1113:446Serenade for Small Orchestra, op. 25: Allegro molto6:087Serenade for Small Orchestra, op. 25: Adagio molto espressivo4:338Serenade for Small Orchestra, op. 25: Presto3:289Serenade for Small Orchestra, op. 25: Allegro5:23
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Robert Kurka head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 8 | 49.7th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 2 | 75.7th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 2 | 92.6th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -45 | 6.8th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Guggenheim Fellowship | won | |
| 1952 | Arts and Letters Award in Music | won |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5ad895a8-d059-412b-ac7b-4afda4ed9161discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5ad895a8-d059-412b-ac7b-4afda4ed9161core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q934353genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q934353seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kurkabiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kurka
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q934353 · MusicBrainz: 5ad895a8-d059-412b-ac7b-4afda4ed9161
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