The composer and conductor Jaroslav Krcek studied at the Bohuslav Jeremias School of Music in Ceske Budejovice, and then he enterd the State Conservatoire in Prague where he studied composition with Miloslav Kabelac and conducting with Bohumir Liska (completed in 1962). Jaroslav Krcek began his professional career as music editor of the Czechoslovak Radio in Pilsen, after that he was employed as music director at the Supraphon recording company. Since 1973 he has devoted himself exclusively to composing and performing. He is a co-founder of the innovative Chorea Bohemica ensemble (1967), later he became an artistic leader of the ensemble Musica Bohemica (1975). As an acknowledged composer and performing artist, Krcek is known to collaborate with other ensembles (Capella Istropolitana), with prominent Prague theatres and with recording companies both in Czechoslovakia and abroad.
The stylistic clarity of Krcek' s music proceeds from the synthesis of the following sources: First of all he was interested in folk music of the 18th and 19th centuries. He is the author of several hundred of folksongs' and folk dances' arrangements, some of which have been awarded prizes in the international radio competition (Prix de musique folklorique de Radio Bratislava). Another significant source of inspiration was for him the early Czech music (the medieval and Renaissance sources, 16th century hymn books and baroque music as a whole). He has also reconstructed or newly designed many old musical instruments which add specific sounds to his compositions. In the sixties he became well acquainted with the then currents in contemporary music, and thanks to his teacher, Miloslav Kabelac, Krcek has acquired a profound knowledge of the structure and inner logic of musical work as a prerequisite for mastering various compositional techniques.
It is at the intersection of these three sources (early music, folk music of Bohemia and Moravia, the "New Music") where one can find the key to comprehending the wide spectrum of musical genres which is characteristic for Jaroslsav Krcek's output. In terms of its developmental process, his work resembles a pyramid, with the lines of folk and ancient music as well as that of the composer' s own experiments converging towards the top. In this sense, the historical background of his music tends to disappear, while experiments cease to be mere experiments. What remains is lively music. In the 1960s and early 1970s Krcek's musical interests seemed to be branching off into many directions. Since the second half of the 1970s, however, he has been gravitating towards more compact and meditative positions. In his later works, he tends to set ancient, or historical texts to music more frequently, e.g. in recent years there were several premieres of Jaroslav Krcek's works inspired by highly philosophical or sacred texts (e.g. his Symphony No 4 'Desiderata', which was premiered at the 'Prague Premieres 2005', or his sacred opera 'Bread out of Stones' a. o.).