Frantisek Manas | Compositeurs

František Maňas was born on 4th october, 1921 in Sehradice in the former Czechoslovak Socialist Republik (CSSR). At the age of eight he began learning the violin, later flugelhorn and harmonium. Aged 12 he played organ in the church and at the age of 15 he was member of his father's concert band. During his studies at the commercial college he took private lessons at the piano and composition.
Maňas started composing when he was 18 years old. Hearing his tango „Když hvězdy záží / When the stars shine bright“ played by a concert band, deeply impressed him. As composing tempted him more than playing music, he studied composition in Brno. His waltz „Sněženk / Snowdrop“ was the beginning of his career as a composer. His brother Václav wrote the lyrics for František's music.
In 1945 Maňas married and moved to Hevlin, a small town near the Austrian border. He worked as organist and founded a concert band that participated very successfully in several nationwide competitions. To establish contact with the music industry, Maňas moved to Brno in 1961. He worked two years for the Chriana Company and then became archivist at the Czech broadcast, later adjunct technician for the Brno orchestra studio, where he stayed for 20 years. He then was hired to play in a Czech restaurant during a world exhibition in Tokyo.
Neither composing nor playing music were main jobs to Maňas. Music was a passion. His connection to his homeland had always been very important in that context. You can hear his Moravian roots in his music. Maňas composed not only polkas and waltzes but also concertos and many other works. His ten Southern Moravian Dances, particularly Dance No. 4, are world-famous. Maňas also wrote pieces for Roland Kohler and the "Neue Böhmische Blasmusik" that are still popular today.
In 2001, Maňas celebrated his 80th birthday with a great concert in Hodonin. For this occasion he wrote the polka „Osumdesátka“ / „The 80th“, with lyrics by Stanislav Pěnčík.
František Maňas died on 21st December, 2004 after a long and serious illness at the age of 83. The funeral at the Brno central cementary was attended by many well-known characters of Czech music who payed their last respects to him.