František Xaver Pokorný (20 December 1729,

Stříbro Stříbro (; ) is a town in Tachov District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the Renaissance Stříbro bridge is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech ...

– 2 July 1794,

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

composer and violinist of the classical period.

Life and career

František Xaver Pokorný was born on (20 December 1729 in Mies (now

). While young, he left his hometown for

where he studied violin playing with Joseph Riepel. In 1750 he went to Wallerstein, where he played violin in the

Oettingen-Wallerstein The House of Oettingen was a high-ranking noble Franconian and Swabian family. It ruled various estates that composed the County of Oettingen between the 12th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1674 the house was raised to the rank ...

court orchestra. In 1753 he went to

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

where he further studied with

Johann Stamitz Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (Czech: Jan Václav Antonín Stamic; 18 June 1717 – 27 March 1757) was a Bohemian composer and violinist. His two surviving sons, Carl and Anton Stamitz, were composers of the Mannheim school, of which Johann ...

and

Ignaz Holzbauer Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian composer of symphony, symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the ''Sturm und Dran ...

among others. After the death of Philip Charles Domenic Oettingen-Wallerstein in 1766 he asked for permission to leave the court for three to four years. He spent the last part of his life in the orchestra of

Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German language, German name: ''Karl Anselm Fürst von Thurn und Taxis'' (2 June 1733 – 13 November 1805) was the fourth Thurn und Taxis, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Postmaster General of the Reic ...

, again in Regensburg. Nearly 150 symphonies are attributed to him, but his authorship is disputed for more than fifty of these, as after his death his surname was erased from his works and replaced by names of other authors by Theodor von Schacht, intendant of the Regensburg orchestra. Furthermore, many works for wind instruments, tens of solo concertos including 45 for harpsichord and 3 for two horns are attributed to him.

References

External links

* 1729 births 1794 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 18th-century musicians from Bohemia Classical-period composers from Bohemia Czech male classical composers People from Stříbro Pupils of Johann Stamitz 18th-century composers from the Holy Roman Empire {{CzechRepublic-composer-stub