Ladislav Vycpálek (30/07/1882 - 09/01/1969), a Czech writer on music and composer, born in Rychnov nad Kneznou. He studied composition under V. Novák. However, he very soon found his own expressive style, which is typified by its thematic foundation and free polyphony featuring individualized vocal lines. He mainly composed choral works in which he demonstrated his great talent as an architect. Prior to WWI, he occupied himself with setting Czech and German symbolist poetry to music, then he drew inspiration from folk poetry. After the war, he turned towards humanistic philosophical reflection, creating three great cantatas: Cantata on the final days of mankind, Blessed be man, and the Czech requiem.