Štěpán Rak
Illustration — Štěpán Rak in 2019. • Illustration — Štěpán Rak in 2009. Štěpán Rak (born 8 August 1945) is a Czech classical guitarist and composer of Ukrainian origin. He is well known for the technical innovations that he uses in his compositions.
Also recorded as Stepan Rak
Štěpán Rak
VitVit · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1945 · Prague.
- Nationality
- Czech Republic
- Occupation
- guitarist · composer · pedagogue · musicologist · teacher
- Education
- Prague Conservatory
- Languages
- Czech
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2802197 · wikipedia · Štěpán Rak
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Biography
Biography
Štěpán Rak was born as Štěpán Slivka in Prague to Cilja (Vasilina) Slivka (1924-1993). His mother escaped from Carpathian Ruthenia in 1941 after it was occupied by Hungary. She was imprisoned in USSR and joined Czechoslovak Army in 1944. Štěpán was adopted by Marie and Josef Rak in 1946 and his biological mother later returned to Ukraine. Rak first studied at a Fine Arts High School in Prague and continued with guitar studies at the Prague Conservatory until 1970. Later he studied composition at the Prague Academy of Arts. In 1973, his orchestral composition Hiroshima won a second prize at a Czechoslovak competition for young composers. From 1975 to 1980 he taught guitar at the Jyväskylä Conservatory in Finland. After his return to Czechoslovakia he taught at Prague Conservatory. Since 1982 he has been teaching guitar at Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Rak speaks English, Russian, Finnish and German.
Documentary record
Štěpán Rak, recorded as a composer and guitarist, was born on 8 August 1945 in Prague. The birth is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Solo Guitar
Solo Guitar
• Sonata per chitarra No. 1 (op. 1, No. 1) • Sonata per chitarra No. 2 (op. 1, No. 2) • Variation on theme by Jaromír Klempíř (op. 7) • Toccata (op. 9, No. 2) • Pláč kytary, in memoriam of F. G. Lorca (op. 11, No. 6) • Hora - Romanian dance (op. 11, No. 9) • Danza Mauretana (op. 11, No. 10) • Slunce (op. 15) • Andante, Vzpomínka na léto • Hiroshima (op. 16a) • Small nocturno (op. 18) • Suite for guitar (op. 23) • Partita semplice (op. 24) • Finská pověst (op. 28) • Český chorál (op. 29) • Sbohem Finsko (op. 30) • Romance (op. 34) • Homanaje á Tárrega (op. 35) • Renaissance suite (Pavana, Saltarello, Renesanční pokušení) (op. 31) • Suite-etude (Bagatella, Palečkův pláč, Palečkův smích) (op. 33) • Decem. partita per chitara No. 2 (op. 41) • Rozmary (op. 42) • Poslední diskotéka (op. 44) • Variation on theme by Nikita Koshkin (op. 45) • První láska (op. 52) • Vzpomínka na Prahu (op. 36) • Voces de profundis (op. 56) • Five Concert Etudes (op. 57) • Minutová sóla (op. 58)
Orchestra
Orchestra
• Vodní znamení (Concerto for guitar and orchestra) (op. 12) • Hiroshima (Two movements for orchestra) (op. 16) • Český sen (Ricercar pro velý dechový orchestr, varhany a bicí nástroje) (op. 21) • Concerto for guitar and orchestra in C-major (op. 26) • Rennaisance concerto for marimba, string orchestra and tympani (op. 60) • Comenius (Concerto for guitar and orchestra) (op. 60a)
Family
Family
His son Jan-Matěj Rak is a folk musician.
Works
Works
• Stepan Rak’s "Tracy" (1994): A Transcription and Commentary Thesis by Reza Khota (2006)
Štěpán Rak, Kralice2013-Alfred-Strejček--Štěpán-Rak
Ben Skála, Benfoto
Selected discography
• Remembering Prague (1988) • The Guitar Of Štěpán Rak (1990) • Dedications (1989) • Terra Australis (1994) • Teskně Hučí Niagara (1994) • Hledání Lásky (1997) • Song For David (2010) • Chvála Čaje (2011)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Štěpán Rak”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2802197: Štěpán Rak
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Štěpán Rak, revision 1256622743 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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