"We went to Mr. Chýn, the Choir Master, and he already knew about us because he got an echo. So he auditioned us - as an audition song, I sang Kde domov můj, which was a bit funny, during the war. And the range and things like that that he needed to know as a choirmaster. And he tested my friend in the same way. And we learned that we were accepted and that we could come to the rehearsal in the evening."
"Of course we listened to London radio station at home. Even though there was a clear sign that it was punishable by death. And there, I don't know who, but it was neither Dr. Beneš nor Minister Masaryk, who declared it there, or declared it, it wasn't just once - don't study or sabotage, just sabotage the enemy's speech. I was failing German, yeah. I can't imagine what my parents went through with me."
"We never sang in unison at home. I always composed a polyphony for them, and my wife was an excellent singer, so both the wife and the two children were simply able to sing in polyphony; they each sang their music line alone, of course. It was a female trio, two sopranos, an alto. And I - when I wanted some complexity there, I wrote some kind of baritone line there, and I composed some of that complexity for myself, of course, so as not to complicate their lives."
Bohuslav Korejs was born on 25 December 1925 in the Březové Hory near Příbram. The whole family was close to music – both the father and one of the brothers were organists, and Bohuslav followed in their footsteps. After studying at the gymnasium, he studied at the conservatory, from where he had to transfer to a music school under the Union of Professional Czech Musicians during the war, because the conservatory was closed just like the universities. He became a member of the Czech Choir, which, for example, sang on the radio, including in broadcasts for Czech workers stationed in the Reich. After the war, he worked for a short time at the State Statistical Institute, then as part of the 77,000 clerks in production campaign, he got to Pragovka as an auxiliary worker, where he worked for 26 long years. However, he did not forget about music; since 1953 he worked as an organist in Prague-Strašnice, from 1964 then in the Týnské chrám, where he also became regenschor, that is, director of the choir. Commissioned by the Czech Bishops’ Conference, he set Czech responsorial psalms to music. After 1989, he taught at the Týn Higher Vocational School and at the Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague. He was the recipient of the honorary recognition of the Czech Bishops’ Conference and the Prize of the Ministry of Culture. Bohuslav Korejs died on April 7, 2023.
