Ottokar Eugen Nováček (13 May 1866 – 3 February 1900) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

, violist 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 def ...

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 ...

descent. He is perhaps best known for his work ''

Perpetuum Mobile In music, ''perpetuum mobile'' (English pronunciation /pərˌpɛtjʊəm ˈmoʊbɪleɪ/, /ˈmoʊbɪli/; Latin, literally, "perpetual motion"), ''moto perpetuo'' (Italian), ''mouvement perpétuel'' ( French), ''movimento perpétuo'' ( Portuguese) ' ...

'' (''Perpetual Motion''), written in 1895.

Life

Nováček was born at Weißkirchen (, ), southern

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

(today Serbia). He studied successfully with his father Martin Joseph Nováček, with

Jakob Dont Jakob Dont (March 2, 1815 – November 17, 1888) was an Austrian violinist, composer, and teacher. He was born and died in Vienna. His father Valentin Dont was a noted cellist. Jakob was a student of Josef Böhm (1795–1876) and of Georg Hellm ...

in Vienna (1880–83), and with Henry Schradieck and Brodsky at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

, where he won the Mendelssohn Prize in 1885. He played in the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

and in the

Brodsky Quartet The Brodsky Quartet is a British string quartet, formed in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, in 1972 as the "Cleveland Quartet", and subsequently named for Russian violinist Adolph Brodsky. Ian Belton and Jacqueline Thomas are original members, ...

, originally as second violin and later as viola. He subsequently immigrated to the United States, where he was a member of the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

under

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungary, Hungarian conducting, conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter ...

(1891) and was appointed principal viola in the Damrosch Orchestra, New York (189293). He also played in the re-formed Brodsky Quartet. In 1899, after a heart condition forced him to retire from playing, he devoted himself to composition. His works include a piano concerto (1894, dedicated to, and first performed by,

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

), ''Perpetuum mobile'' (''Perpetual Motion'') for violin and orchestra (1895), three string quartets (published in 1890, 1898 and 1904), eight Concerto caprices and other works for violin and piano, and six songs to texts by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

. He died in New York City in 1900.

Family lineage

* Martin (Joseph) Nováček (1834, Horaschdowitz, Royal Bohemia, Imp.-R.

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

1906, Temesvár, Hungary)
∞ Maria Hildebrand ** Rudolf Nováček (7 April 1860, Fehértemplom 12 August 1929, Prague), a ''Militärkapellmeister'' and composer ** Ottokar Nováček ** Karl / Karel Nováček (1868, Fehértemplom 1929, Budapest) ** Victor Nováček (1875, Temesvár 1914, Helsinki)

References

External links

Free scores by Ottokar Novacek
at the

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project uses MediaWiki software, and ...

* http://www.austriaca.at/ml/musik_N/Novacek_Brueder.xml * http://www.edition-musik-suedost.de/html/novacek_ottokar.html (German) * http://www.edition-musik-suedost.de/html/novacek_martin.html About Martin (Joseph) Novacek (1834 - 1906) 1866 births 1900 deaths 19th-century Czech classical composers 19th-century Austrian composers Composers from Austria-Hungary Czech Romantic composers Czech male classical composers 19th-century classical violinists Violinists from Austria-Hungary Czech male classical violinists Czech classical violists 19th-century Austrian male musicians Players of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Players of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Mendelssohn Prize winners Austrian people of Czech descent Hungarian people of Czech descent People from the Kingdom of Hungary People from Bela Crkva Czech people from Austria-Hungary {{Serbia-musician-stub