Zdeněk Liška – Genius of Czech film music

Zdeněk Liška is regarded as the greatest ever writer of Czech film music, not only for the scope of his oeuvre but also for his distinctive approach to composition. Liška’s work accompanies 160 feature films as well as countless shorts and TV productions. March 16 was the centenary of his birth.

Liška’s scores accompany all-time classics of Czechoslovak cinema, including Marketa Lazarová, The Shop on Main Street and The Cremator, while his electronic music contributed greatly to the the sci-fi movie Ikarie XB 1. He also worked with Jan Švankmajer and, at the other end of the spectrum, provided music for Communist-era cop drama Thirty Cases of Major Zeman.