Choreographer, director and uncompromising judge of the dance show Let’s Dance Ján Ďurovčík (55) he achieved significant success not only on the domestic art scene, but also abroad and collaborated with world-class figures, but also with local ones, among whom he undoubtedly belonged Your Patejdl († 68). In influencer Oskar Barami, he dedicated some beautiful words to his late friend.
“Yours was a genius. That word is rarely used, but he was. Few people can do that. You know, you can say anything, but you’re subconsciously singing those songs to yourself,” he recalled. The couple participated in successful musicals such as Osmy svetadiel and Voda a krv nad vodu and after Patejdl’s sudden death, Ďurovčík was devastated.
Just after his departure, the well-known director spoke about their relationship and stated that Slovakia had not yet fully realized what a personality it had lost. “As a professional, he was unreal. When you meet people with such quality, you sometimes fear that you will feel it in your dealings. He was terribly ordinary, in the best sense of the word, where the genius with which he influenced him did not show it. When he was talking to you, or when he was doing, he was like the boy next door,” he said in August 2023.
Vašo Patejdl was five years old when his family moved from Karlovy Vary to Bratislava. He was one of the good students at school, he enjoyed science subjects. And of course music. His parents insisted that he study well, this was later a condition when he started his first band in 1968. Pupil Patejdl, who played piano and guitar, was looking for a bass guitarist and a drummer for the band. The school principal allowed them to use the physics cabinet as an exam room.
His first band disbanded, so he approached Jož Ráž, with whom he used to play piano together at the People’s School of Art. He then got Ďur Farkaš and he in turn got Zden Baláž. Young Vašo also started as a guitarist, at that time they listened to the Beatles, Rolling Stones and similar bands, where everyone played guitars. Only later, when Rick Wakeman and company came on the scene, he also started to use keyboards more in the band.
The first concert, still under the name Václav Patejdl Group, took place on April 22, 1970. In January 1971, they took part in the Municipal House of Culture Suché mýto in the qualification exam for musicians, the so-called records so that they could play for a fee and on October 21, 1972 they gave their first concert under the name Elán-17. Later, the number 17 was dropped from the name, and on January 18, 1974, the first mention of the Elán group appeared in the press. In addition to acting, Patejdl studied composition at the Academy of Performing Arts.
In June 1979, they performed at the Bratislava Lyra with the composition Bláznivé hry and won the prize for the arrangement. The following year, they won a silver lyre for the song Kaskadér, and the composition Ôsmy svetadiel won the text prize. In 1984, Elán won the group category in the Czechoslovak Golden Nightingale poll, and similarly for the next three years.
Patejdl was one of the leading personalities of the Elán group, he recorded the first four albums with it – Ôsmy svetadiel, Nie sme zlí, Elán 3 and Hodina slovenčina. He left Elán at the end of 1984. In 1985, he won the silver Bratislava lyre for the song Boy’s Smile, composed the music for the film Fountain for Zuzana. In 1986, he released his first solo album Boy’s Smile. A year later, he won the golden lyre for the song Umenie žit, he released the second album Lov na feelings. In 1989, he released his third album, Mon amour.
He produced Beáta Dubasová’s album, wrote the music for the movie Fontána pre Zuzana 2. In 1996, he renewed his collaboration with the group Elán and released the album Spovedaj ma z spomienok. He composed several songs for other performers, the title song Svitá for the Slovak film comedy The Dead Man Must Die, and the composition Volťnost, sung by Karel Gott, for the film Cinka Panna.
Patejdl was also successful as an author in the musical field. On May 3, 1991, the musical Snow White and the Seven Runners premiered at the Slovak National Theatre. He composed the music for the musical Adam Šangala and the musical Jack the Ripper. Since November 2009, they have been presenting The Ripper in Seoul, Korea. On October 10, 2008, the Slovak musical with original songs Fontána pre Zuzana premiered in Bratislava’s Nová scéna theater. Another musical Ôsmy svetadiel premiered in this theater on October 29, 2011. In October 2012, the premiere of the musical Jack the Ripper was held in Tokyo.
Vašo Patejdl He composed the music for the musical Tisícróčna včela, which premiered on November 15, 2013 at the Andreja Bagar Theater in Nitra. On May 17, 2014, the musical Don Juan premiered in Brno, for which he also composed the music. The premiere of his musical Alice in Wonderland took place in Prague’s Hybernia Theater in September 2016. In March 2023, he composed the song Pierko pravdy for Beata Dubasová. It was the last from his author’s pen. After his death, all his solo albums Boy’s Smile, Lov na feelings, Mon amour, Dlhá cesta – Long Way and Labyrinth sveta were reissued in September 2023. In August 2024, his album Hudobná škola Paťa, Kuko, Vašo was released for the first time on CD.
