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Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (in German: Wenzel Johann Tomaschek; 17 April 1774,
Skuteč Skuteč (; german: Skutsch) is a town in Chrudim District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Borek, Hněvětice, Lažany, Lešany, Lhota u Skutče, Nová Ves, Radčice, ...
,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
– 3 April 1850, Prague) was an Austrian-Bohemian, by other accounts a Czech
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 ...
and music teacher. He was known as the Musical Pope of Prague. In the words of Kenneth Delong, “Highly opinionated, often sarcastic and projecting a sense of his own importance, Tomášek's memoirs also reveal him to be deeply concerned about all things artistic and intellectual: a man of courage and idealism, unflinching in his pursuit of truth in music and in life.”


Life

As a pianist, he was an
autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...
, becoming one of the most important piano teachers of Prague for a century. Tomášek studied violin and singing with Wolf. Until 1824 he worked as a piano teacher in aristocratic families. Afterwards he created a considerable school of music; among its most well-known pupils were Jan Voříšek,
Alexander Dreyschock Alexander Dreyschock (15 October 1818 – 1 April 1869) was a Czech pianist and composer. Born in Žáky in Bohemia, his musical talents were first noticed at age of eight, and at age fifteen he travelled to Prague to study piano and composition ...
,
Johann Friedrich Kittl Johann Friedrich Kittl (Jan Bedřich Kittl: born 8 May 1806 Orlík, Bohemia; 20 July 1868 in Leszno, Poland) was a Czech composer. After studying law in Prague, Kittl studied music with Václav Tomášek. From 1843 to 1864, he headed the Prague ...
and
Eduard Hanslick Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...
. Tomášek made the acquaintance of Beethoven, and also of Goethe, whose poems he set. He maintained correspondence with the Polish pianist and composer Maria Agata Szymanowska. His autobiography was published in German, as well as in a Czech translation. He lived at number 15 Tomášská Street in Prague - the building bears a memorial plaque to him in Czech and German.


Style

Tomášek wrote a good deal for the piano and became a forerunner of the lyric piano piece which later reached its apogee in the works of Schubert and Chopin. At first he remained loyal to the Classical style, but later was influenced by the newly born Romanticism. An important part of his oeuvre are his songs. Besides songs to Goethe's German poems he composed also songs to the patriotic lyrics of Czech authors. He composed short pieces for glass harp and
organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...
, and works for choir. In 1823–1824, he was one of the 50 composers who composed a variation on a waltz by Anton Diabelli for ''
Vaterländischer Künstlerverein ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or anthology, incorporating 83 variations for piano on a theme by Anton Diabelli, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in t ...
''.


Selected works

Piano: *Six sonatas *'' Eclogues'' (42 pieces in 7 volumes, 1807–1823) *''Rhapsodies'' (3 volumes, 1810–c. 1840) *''
Dithyramb The dithyramb (; grc, διθύραμβος, ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in ''The Laws'', while discussing ...
s'', op. 65 (1818) Chamber: *''Grand trio'' for violin, viola and piano (1800) *'' Contrapuntal string quartet'' (1805) * Piano Quartet in E flat major, op. 22 Orchestral: *Symphony in C major (1801) *Symphony in E flat major (1805) *Symphony in D major (1807) *Two piano concertos Songs: *''Lenora'' (ballad, 1805) *Six songs (1813) *Songs to poems by Goethe (1815) Operas: *''Seraphine'' (1811) *''Alvaro'' *''Sakuntala'' Choral: *''Requiem in C minor'' (1820) *''Missa Solemnis'' Op. 81 *''Messa con Graduale et Offertorio'' Op. 46


References

*Jaroslav Smolka (ed.): ''Malá encyklopedie hudby''. Prague: Edition Supraphon, 1983.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomasek, Vaclav Jan Krtitel 1774 births 1850 deaths 18th-century Bohemian musicians 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Czech musicians 19th-century Czech male musicians Czech male classical composers Czech opera composers Czech Romantic composers Male opera composers People from Skuteč People from the Kingdom of Bohemia