Adam Michna z Otradovic, or also Adam Václav Michna z Otradovic – literally ''Adam Michna of Otradovice'' – ( 1600 – 2 November 1676,
Jindřichův Hradec
Jindřichův Hradec (; german: Neuhaus) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.
Administrative par ...
) was a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
Catholic poet, composer,
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
writer,
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
and
choir leader of the early
Baroque era
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
. He is also known in simplified form as Adam Michna and during his life as Adamus Wenceslaus Michna de Ottradowicz. He was the most important Czech composer and poet of the early Baroque who initiated the development of Czech art in that era and became a significant inspiration for Czech artists of future generations.
Life
Michna was descended from the
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Great B ...
and musical family of Michna z Otradovic in
Jindřichův Hradec
Jindřichův Hradec (; german: Neuhaus) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.
Administrative par ...
in South
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, bearing the title of Knight. His father was the organist and trumpeter Michael Michna (many of his other relatives were also trumpeters). In the 1620s the literary fraternity in the town was restored by the highest Lord Chancellor of the
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...
Vilém Slavata and that act, together with the activities of the
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
College, founded in 1594, contributed greatly to the development of cultural life in the town. Adam Michna became the first student at the Jesuit College, where he studied in 1611–1612 and 1615–1617 at the
gymnasium. In the 17th and 18th centuries the Order of Jesuits was a great influence on musical life in the Czech lands. Many of Michna's compositions were later printed and published by
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
Jesuits.
Little is known about his later life. He became a member of the Literary Society and the organist and choir director in 1633 at the provost church in Jindřichův Hradec. He helped to improve the musical life in the town, was a respected and wealthy citizen of Jindřichův Hradec and also the owner of the tap-room. He was twice married, but no record exists of any children. In 1673 he established a foundation for the education of needy young musicians.
He died on 2 November 1676.
Work
Adam Michna was prolific, but not all of his works were preserved and known today. There are 230 of his compositions from three
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
and two
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
collections. The majority of his creative effort was dedicated to
sacred music
Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...
. The best known are his three hymn cycles, (Czech Marian music), (''Czech Lute'') and (Holy year music).
He composed vocal as well as vocal-instrumental music to his own lyrics. He wrote many Czech sacred songs; some are still well known and popular, such as the
carol (''Christmas Night''), better known as , which is commonly sung today at Christmas in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
. It is possible that Michna was familiar with early
Italian Baroque compositional techniques.
Music
Sacred music
Michna's sacred music (on
liturgical texts, in Latin), is
melodically
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...
rich, with
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
sound, in particular using brass instruments (trumpets,
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
s), strings and
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
. Vocal parts are based on the
timbre contrast between solo vocals and
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
.
* ''Obsequium Marianum'' (1642)
* ''Officium vespertinum, Psalmi'' (1648)
* ''Magnificat I. toni'' (1654)
* – containing 5 masses, 2 litanies, a
Te Deum
The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...
, and a Requiem
* ''Missa Sancti Wenceslai''
Songs and hymns
Michna musically arranged
homophonic songs from his own texts:
* (1647)
* (1653)
* (1661)
Poetry
Michna's poetry is based on emphasizing the use of word sounds,
rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...
s and rich
metaphorical
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared with ...
phrases. His verbal pictures are very vivid and aim to influence the senses. His favourite themes can be described as the inner fight between good and evil in man, moving from lovely images of paradise to the terrible torments of hell, but with specific noble, philosophical insight (however, he sometimes used colloquial language too), enriched on occasion by modest humour, arising from a critical view of human society. Among his other main themes is the imaginative depiction of nature. He was the first Czech poet to create the phenomenon of
spiritual-
romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
poetry.
The list of poems is practically identical to the collections of songs.
Recordings
* ''Sacra Et Litaniae à 5, 6, 7 & 8 Vocum Cum Instrumentis'' –
Václav Smetáček
Václav Smetáček (30 September 1906 in Brno – 18 February 1986 in Prague) was a Czech conductor, composer, and oboist.
He studied in Prague among others with Jaroslav Křička, conducting with Metod Doležil and Pavel Dědeček, musicolog ...
,
Josef Veselka, Symphonisches Orchester Des Rundfunks von Bratislava, Moravan, Schwann, 1966
* ''Missa à 7, Cantiones, Requiem'' –
Capella Regia Musicalis
Capella Regia Prague, formerly Capella Regia Musicalis, is a Czech early music ensemble founded in 1992 by Robert Hugo.Early Music Review - Issues 78-82; Issues 84-86 2002 -- Page 14 The name Capella Regia Musicalis was in reference to a famous 16 ...
, Robert Hugo;
Studio Matouš
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...
, 1992
* ''Missa Sancti Wenceslai, Svatoroční Muzika'' – Capella Regia Musicalis, Robert Hugo; Popron Music, 1994
* ''Officium Vespertinum'' Capella Regia Musicalis, Robert Hugo; Arta Records, 2001
* ''The Czech Lute'' (''Loutna česká'') –
Prague Chamber Choir
The Prague Chamber Choir (''Pražský komorní sbor'') is a Czech choir founded in Prague in 1990 by singers of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. It has performed concerts in Australia, Brazil, Israel, Japan, Lebanon and many European countries (e.g. ...
,
Musica Bohemica
Musica (Latin), or La Musica (Italian) or Música (Portuguese and Spanish) may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Musica è'', a mini album by Italian funk singer Eros Ramazzotti 1988
* ''Musica'', an album by Ghaleb 2005
* ), a German album by Giovan ...
,
Jaroslav Krček
Jaroslav Krček (born 22 April 1939) is a Czech radio producer, conductor, inventor of musical instruments and composer of classical and folk music.
Biography
Jaroslav Krček was born in Čtyři Dvory, today a part of České Budějovice in South ...
;
Supraphon, 2002. Musica Pro Sancta Cecilia, 2008
* ''Messe de Saint-Wenceslas & Requiem'' – Chorale Franco-Allemande de Paris, Direction Bernard Lallement:
Wild Palms Music, 2006. Also released in 1992 by Harmonia Mundi and BNL Productions
Notes
* Essential part of his scores, published by Editio Bärenreiter in Prague (former Editio Supraphon)
* Compendium of 172 poems:
References
External links
Discography*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michna, Adam
1600s births
1676 deaths
Czech Baroque composers
Czech male classical composers
Czech Roman Catholics
Czech choral conductors
17th-century Bohemian people
17th-century classical composers
17th-century Bohemian poets
Czech classical musicians
Czech organists
Male organists
Czech male poets
17th-century male writers
17th-century male musicians