Jan Matyáš Nepomuk August Vitásek (or Johann Matthias Wittasek/Wittaschek; February 20, 1770 – December 7, 1839) was a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n composer. Vitásek was born at Hořín. He studied under his father and then under František Xaver Dušek and Leopold Koželuch, the latter of whom he would succeed in the position of music director in 1814 at the Cathedral of St. Vitus in Prague. Vitásek remained in Prague for the rest of his life and became one of the city's leading musical figures, even refusing an offer of a directorship at

St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna St. Stephen's Cathedral ( ) is a Roman Catholic church in Vienna, Austria, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Schönborn. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the ca ...

. He became the director of the organ school for a Bohemian organization called the Society for the Promotion of Church Music in 1830. He died in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Vitásek's compositional output includes one

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

(''David'', 1810), twelve

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

es, seven

requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

s, many other choral works both

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

, some

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 c ...

concerto 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 ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, and preludes and fugues for

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

. In 1823–24, he was one of the 50 composers who composed a variation on a waltz by

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

for '' Vaterländischer Künstlerverein''.

References

Don Randel Don Michael Randel (born December 9, 1940) is an American musicologist, specializing in the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Spain and France. He is currently the chair of the board of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a truste ...

, ''The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music'', Harvard, 1996, p. 952.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitasek, Jan August 1770 births 1839 deaths 18th-century classical composers from Bohemia 18th-century male musicians from Bohemia 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Czech male musicians Composers from the Austrian Empire Czech male classical composers Czech Romantic composers People from Mělník District 18th-century composers from the Holy Roman Empire