Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (in German: Wenzel Johann Tomaschek; 17 April 1774,

Skuteč Skuteč (; ) is a town in Chrudim District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,100 inhabitants. Administrative division Skuteč consists of 13 municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Skut ...

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 ...

– 3 April 1850,

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 ...

) was an Austrian-Bohemian, by other accounts 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 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 ...

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, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

, becoming one of the most important piano teachers of

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,

Johann Friedrich Kittl Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious ...

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. Hi ...

. Tomášek made the acquaintance of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, and also of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, whose poems he set. He maintained correspondence with the Polish pianist and composer Maria Agata Szymanowska. His autobiography was published in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, as well as in a

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 Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

and Chopin. At first he remained loyal to the Classical style, but later was influenced by the newly born

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. 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 A glass harp (also called musical glasses, singing glasses, angelic organ, verrillon or ghost fiddle) is a musical instrument made of upright wine glasses. It is played by running moistened or chalked fingers around the rim of the glasses. Each ...

and

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 ...

, and works for

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. In 1823–1824, 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 ''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 tw ...

''.

Selected works

Piano: *Six sonatas *''

Eclogue An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics. The term is also used for a musical genre thought of as evoking a pastoral scene. Classical beginnings The form of the word ...

s'' (42 pieces in 7 volumes, 1807–1823) *''Rhapsodies'' (3 volumes, 1810–c. 1840) *''

Dithyramb The dithyramb (; , ''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 various kinds of music m ...

s'', op. 65 (1818) Chamber: *''Grand trio'' for violin, viola and piano (1800) *''

Contrapuntal In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous Part (music), musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and Pitch contour, melodic contour. The term ...

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 musicians from Bohemia 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians 19th-century Czech classical composers 19th-century Czech male musicians Classical-period composers from Bohemia Czech opera composers Czech Romantic composers Czech male opera composers People from Skuteč Composers for piano Composers from the Austrian Empire