nMusic in the Czech lands 1750-1830
n (also music by czech composers outside Czech lands)
nJan Václav Stamic (1717-1757) MANNHEIM
nFrantišek Xaver Brixi (1732-1771) PRAGUE
nJiří Antonín Benda (1722-1795) GOTHA
nAnton Rössler Rosetti (ca1750-1792) GERMANY
nAntonín Rejcha (1770-1836) PARIS
nVáclav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1770-1850) PRAGUE
nJan Václav Hugo Voříšek (1791-1825) VIENNA

n Jan Václav Stamic (1717-1757)
nBorn in Německý Brod, studied at jesuit college in Jihlava and later Prague (gymnasium,
university)
n„Composer, violinist and teacher. He ranks among the most important early Classical symphonists
and was influential in making the court of the Elector Palatine at Mannheim a leading centre of
orchestral performance and composition“ (GROVE).
nSinfonia pastorale op. 4/2 (Presto)
nOrgan concerto No. VI F major (Allegro)
positiv, 2 violins, viola, double-bass only, harpsichord

n František Xaver Brixi (1732-1771)
nSon of a church musician, studied at piarist gymnasium. 1759 appointed Kapellmeister of St Vít
Cathedral (the highest position in Prague and in the country).
nBest known and probably most influential composer in Czech lands with an output ca 500 works,
mostly sacred music: masses, litanies, oratorios, works for so called Musica navalis.
nMissa di Gloria (mid of the 18th century, together 45 minutes)
Gloria + Et in terra (chorus, strings, 2 clarini, organ)
n Sinfonia in C minor (Allegro molto)
nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVUS6lZIkjM
nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNHDJ5IkXdE&feature=related

n „Brixi was one of the leading musical figures of mid-18th-century Bohemia. His tremendous output
of about 500 works was rooted in the Neapolitan style… Brixi’s style is distinguished from that of
his contemporaries by its fresh melodic writing, vivacious rhythm and lively bass lines, and from
that of his predecessors by its simple yet effective instrumentation. He often made use of folk
music in his works. During his lifetime his music was widely disseminated in Bohemia and Moravia,
as well as in other countries… He had a profound effect on Bohemian musical taste, and Mozart’s
favourable reception in Prague in the 1780s was at least partly due to Brixi’s lasting influence.
The easy appeal of his musical style left an impression on Czech composers for the rest of the 18th
century“ (GROVE) .

n Cítoliby
nVillage situated 60 kilometres to the northwest from Prague with flourishing artistic activity,
iniciated by the art-loving noble family Pachtas of Rájov.
nGroup of musicians, concentrated at the local court, active also at the village church. Václav Jan
Kopřiva (1708-1789) was the leading person for so called Citoliby School – ca six
musicians/composers from the following generation.
nKarel Blažej Kopřiva (+1785): Fuga-Pastorella in C

n Jiří Antonín Benda (1722-1795)
nSon of a bohemian musician, studied at piarist gymnasium in Kosmonosy (as Brixi) and later at
jesuit gymnasium, 1742 emigrated with his parents and sister to Prussia to join his brothers as
violinist in the court orchestra.
n1750 appointed Kapellmeister of the dukes court at Gotha. Composed church music and stage works,
esp. Melodramas (first Ariadne on Naxos, 1775, appreciated by Mozart, followed by Medea and
Pygmalion).

n Synopsis (Ariadne on Naxos, premiere 1775)
n Ariadne (spoken role), having fled from Crete with Theseus (spoken role), awakens on the desolate
island of Naxos to learn that he has abandoned her. Feelings of disbelief, anger, grief and love
swirl in her mind along with tender memories. A storm mounts and at its height she throws herself
from a cliff into the sea (GROVE).
nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybJPvg4WI6w

n Anton Rössler Rosetti (ca1750-1792)
nstudied at jesuits in Prague
His Requiem of 1776 was used at a memorial ceremony for Mozart in Prague in 1791.
nOratorio Jesus in Gethsemane (1790)
nCantata Halleluiah
nNumber of instrumental compositions for wind instruments
n
nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBWmcDgfvfY