Jan Antonín Koželuh (also Johann Antonin Kozeluch, Koscheluch, Jan Evangelista Antonín Tomáš; 14 December 1738 in

Velvary Velvary () is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Villages of J ...

– 3 February 1814 in

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 ...

) was a Czech composer.

Life

Koželuh was a pupil of

Josef Seger Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan spe ...

and studied under the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in Brenitz. He studied in

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under

Christoph Willibald von Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he ga ...

and

Florian Gassmann Florian Leopold Gassmann (3 May 1729 – 21 January 1774) was a German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the transitional period between the baroque and classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of '' dramma giocoso'' immed ...

. In 1784, he became a concert master in

St. Vitus Cathedral , native_name_lang = Czech , image = St Vitus Prague September 2016-21.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...

for thirty years and the organist at the

Strahov Monastery Strahov Monastery ( cs, Strahovský klášter) is a Premonstratensians, Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia. It is located in Strahov (district of Prague), Strahov, P ...

. His works includes 45 Masses, a

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

, an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

, two

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

, four

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

, and several woodwind

concertos A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

. As one of the most respected Czech composers of his time, he also composed serious Italian operas: ''Allesandro nell' Indie'' was performed in 1769 and ''Demofoonte ''in 1772. He was the teacher of his cousin

Leopold Koželuch Leopold Koželuch (, born ''Jan Antonín Koželuh'', alternatively also ''Leopold Koželuh'', ''Leopold Kotzeluch'') (26 June 1747 – 7 May 1818) was a Czech composer and music teacher. He was born in the town of Velvary, in Bohemia (present- ...

, whose name was originally also Jan Antonin Koželuh, but who changed his name in 1773.

References

Bibliography

* Van Boer, Bertil H.: ''Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period'', p. 314. Scarecrow Press, 2012.

External links

Operatic Works at operone.debrief biography at classical-composers.org
* 1738 births 1814 deaths Czech composers Czech male composers People from Kladno District {{CzechRepublic-composer-stub