Hans Balatka (March 5, 1827 – April 17, 1899) was an American conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His efforts contributed much to the great increase in popularity of European classical music in the United States during the late 19th century.

Life

Balatka was born in Hoffnungsthal near

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

(today the village of Doly, part of the

Bouzov Bouzov (german: Busau) is a municipality and village in Olomouc District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Bezděkov, Blažov, Doly, Hvozdečko, Jeřmaň, Kadeřín, Kov� ...

municipality,

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 ...

). His parents were noted musicians. He studied law at Olomouc, and after finishing the course was engaged as tutor by a wealthy family in Vienna. There he also perfected his knowledge of

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

under

Simon Sechter Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainl ...

und

Heinrich Proch Heinrich Proch (22 July 1809 – 18 December 1878) was an Austrian composer. Born in Vienna, Proch studied jurisprudence and completed his training as a violinist in his native city. From 1834 to 1867, he was a member of the Vienna Hofkapelle. ...

. This source gives a birthdate of March 5, 1836. He began his musical career as conductor for singing societies. He became a member of the Academic Legion during the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

. After the

Vienna Uprising The Vienna Uprising or October Revolution (german: Wiener Oktoberaufstand, or ) of October 1848 was the last uprising in the Austrian Revolution of 1848. On 6 October 1848, as the troops of the Austrian Empire were preparing to leave Vienna to s ...

was crushed, he decided to emigrate to the United States. In 1849 he reached

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and, following a romantic impulse, tried rural life for a spell, but soon settled in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, where he conducted the Musical Society (german: Musikverein), founded in 1850, beginning in 1851. He produced several oratorios and operas, and conducted musical festivals in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. In 1860, he left the Musikverein to become leader of the newly founded Philharmonic Society of Chicago. In 1867 he became director of the

Germania Männerchor The Germania Männerchor, later the Lincoln Club and the Germania Club, was a male choral cooperative society formed by German immigrants in Chicago. The group performed vocal music, music accompanied by an orchestra, and music for social dancing, ...

, and in the same year conducted the group at

Nord-Amerikanischer Sängerbund The Nord-Amerikanischer Sängerbund (English: North American Singers' Association) is an association which promotes the culture of German music, culture and song. Eligibility for the association is open to any independent Germanic singing soci ...

held in Indianapolis, where they performed the works of

Franz Abt Franz Wilhelm Abt (22 December 1819 – 31 March 1885) was a German composer and choral conductor. He composed roughly 3,000 individual works mostly in the area of vocal music. Several of his songs were at one time universally sung, and have obta ...

. In 1868, he directed a musical festival at Chicago, which was pronounced the greatest that had been held in this country up to that time. CHRISTIAN F

The

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

of 1871 destroyed his home, and he went on a concert tour for two years. He organized the Liederkranz Society in 1873, and later the Mozart Club and the Chicago Musical Society. He was also director to the Arion des Westen Musical Society and in 1879 he founded the Balatka Academy of Musical Art, in which his son Christian and his daughter Annie were teachers. He conducted a great Saengerfest in Chicago, with a chorus of 2,200, a mixed chorus of 1,200, and an orchestra of 150. He died in Chicago at the age of 72.

Works

Balatka's compositions are few in number. Besides his addition of a climax to Chopin's "Funeral March," in place of its abrupt ending, he composed a grand aria for soprano with accompaniment, a piano quartet, a sonata, and several songs. He was the author of ''A Condensed History of Music'' (1888), ''A History of Orchestra Music in Chicago'', and contributed musical articles regularly to the Chicago ''Daheim''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balatka, Hans 1827 births 1899 deaths American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) American male classical composers American non-fiction writers Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Forty-Eighters American Romantic composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century conductors (music) 19th-century American composers 19th-century American male musicians People from the Margraviate of Moravia People from Olomouc District Musicians from Chicago