Tomaschek, Wenzel Johann

Wenzel Johann Tomaschek (1774-1850): An Autobiography

2023 1-4955-1133-2
Johann Wenzel Tomaschek was one of the most significant and fascinating musical personalities at the beginning of the 19th century. A brilliant pianist, teacher, composer and critic, he was known as the Musical Pope of Prague. He was a friend of Beethoven and Goethe, and taught such figures as the virtuosos Alexander Dreyschock and Jan Vaclav Voriskek and the critic Eduard Hanslick. Despite the fact that he composed over one hundred compositions, including operas, concerti, string quartets, symphonies, songs and religious works, he is known today almost exclusively for his characteristic piano pieces, variously titled "Rhapsodies", "Dithyrambs", and most often, "Eclogues". Though these titles all have their roots in classical poetry, the pieces in question combine aspects of classic style with fresh, new and even idosyncratic takes on contemporary musical thought. *This Autobiography first appeared in installments between 1845 and 1850 in the periodical "Libussa". An annotated Czech translation appeared in 1941 and excerpts have appeared in English in The Musical Quarterly in 1946 and The Musical Times in 1974. This volume [published originally by Pendragon Press in 2017] is the first complete English translation of the work. -Michael Beckerman ("Introduction") This work was translated by Stephen Thomson Moore. (Studies in Czech Music, No. 5)