Editorial

Jiří Kopecký

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):301-302  

Písňový skladatel Zdeněk Fibich?

Zdeněk Fibich as a Song Composer?

Barbora Cupáková

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):305-320 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.017  

The composer Zdeněk Fibich (1850–1900) is seldom associated with vocal compositions. More often is expressed Fibich’s affinity with opera and melodrama even though he set songs throughout his career. Fibich set to music more than two hundred German and Czech texts. Songs to poetry by Heinrich Heine and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were created the most. Thus songs to Goethe’s poems are the core of the study. Fifteen solo songs, three duets, two choral works, and the incidental music Clavigo were written during Fibich’s study period from 1865 to 1873. Only ten solo songs and the duet O tobě sním (I Dream about You, Hud. 172/7)...

“…kteráž jako nejnovější jeho písně, jméno jeho rozšířiti může i v širších kruzích světa uměleckého”: Meluzína Zdeňka Fibicha (op. 55 Hud. 187)

“…which, like his latest songs, might extend his name also within the wider circles of the artistic world”: Zdeněk Fibich’s Meluzína (op. 55 Hud. 187)

Anja Bunzel

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):321-335 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.018  

On January 10, 1873, the journal Dalibor predicted for Zdeněk Fibich’s Meluzína that its success would help to spread Fibich’s name within the ‘wider circles of the artistic world’. In retrospect, this prediction might have been a little too optimistic, as, up until this day, Fibich has been acknowledged primarily for his innovative approach to music-dramatic genres. This paper aims to close this research lacuna by shedding light on both Meluzína’s reception and selected compositional-aesthetic features.

Recepce díla Johannese Brahmse v českých zemích v letech 1877–1897 na základě časopisu Dalibor

The Reception of Johannes Brahms’ Work in the Czech Lands between 1877 and 1897 Based on the Magazine Dalibor

Ivona Hiršová

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):336-341 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.019  

The aim of this paper is to determine the relationship of Czech audiences to the music of Johannes Brahms. All the concerts containing Brahms’ pieces were identified as a result of research into issues of the music magazine Dalibor. Subsequent reviews clarified the reception of Brahms’ work in the Czech lands, and consequently Brahms’ work was positively received by Czech audiences. The research revealed two aspects in particular that influenced the acceptance of the composer’s work. First of all, the choice of the composition mattered, as the music of Brahms counted among the most challenging to perform and therefore difficult...

Reflexe oper Tannhäuser a Mistři pěvci norimberští Richarda Wagnera v devadesátých letech 19. století v českém dobovém tisku

The Reception of Richard Wagner’s Operas Tannhäuser and The Mastersingers of Nuremberg in the Czech Lands

Jan Pospíšil

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):342-349 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.020  

This paper introduces readers to the political and social situation in the Czech lands of the 1890s. While Moravia solved the Czech-German problem in 1905 with the Moravian pact (Moravský pakt), Bohemia was unable to resolve the conflict between Czechs and Germans until the First World War. Richard Wagner’s music started to appear in the Czech lands in the middle of the 19th century. The first example originated in 1843, when František Škroup obtained the score of the opera Bludný Holanďan (The Flying Dutchman). From 1853 Wagner’s music was regularly played in the Czech lands. The premieres of operas in the Czech lands emerged...

Působení pěvce Karla Buriana v Národním divadle v Praze v letech 1899 až 1903

Karel Burian’s Active Work in the National Theatre from 1899 to 1903

Petr Venglař

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):350-361 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.021  

This study focuses on the work of the Czech singer Karel Burian at the National Theatre in Prague from 1899 to 1903. The first section deals with Burian’s singing repertoire at the Prague National Theatre and his further work during his stay in Prague. The second section considers musical reviews of Burian’s singing performances at the National Theatre in Prague. The following section is concerned with the income of Burian and his colleagues who worked at the National Theatre. The fourth section focuses on the relationship between Burian and the head of the National Theatre Opera, other artists and visitors to operatic performances during...

Operní adaptace Babičky Boženy Němcové

Operatic Adaptations of Božena Němcová’s Babička

Kristina Vonková

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):362-372 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.022  

Adaptations of prose works to the form of opera librettos are quite frequent, but the resulting operas are observed from a musical point of view much more often than from a literary and comparative one. This paper seeks to expand this area of research and consider some aspects that need to be included in further observations. The research is based on a comparison of two operatic adaptations of Babička by Božena Němcová. One of them is Babička by the librettist Adolf Wenig and the composer Antonín Vojtěch Horák, which was premiered in 1900 at the Prague National Theatre; the other is Na Starém bělidle by the librettist Karel Šípek and the composer Karel...

Hledání programu, hledání identity aneb Stýkání a potýkání svatováclavské a husovsko-husitské tradice v české hudbě 2. poloviny v 19. století

Searching for a Programme, Searching for an Identity, or the Association and the Struggle between The Saint Wenceslas and Hus-Hussite Traditions in Czech Music of the Second Half of the 19th Century

Viktor Velek

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):373-408 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.023  

The text first of all gives a broader comparison of the development of two traditions that significantly influenced Czech society in the 19th century. Political, national and religious influences, together with the development of historical research, were reflected in artistic creation, including music. Both traditions were connected by many features: a place in Czech history, a religious basis, the element of Czech-German coexistence, partly also their incorporation into the interpretation of the Blaník legend, etc. The selection of compositions serves not only to understand the parallel coexistence of both traditions, but it is also beneficial in...

Mediální obraz Bedřicha Smetany a Zdeňka Fibicha v českých ilustrovaných časopisech publikovaných v první polovině osmdesátých let 19. století

The Media Image of Bedřich Smetana and Zdeněk Fibich in Czech Illustrated Magazines Published in the First Half of the 1880s

Milan Balódy

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):409-428 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.024  

The media expand the biographical research of leading composers with at least a social context. They tell about a society, a mentality of the time, which it not only reflected, but also shaped. The study deals with such verbal and pictorial contributions in Czech illustrated magazines of the first half of the 1880s which concerned Bedřich Smetana and Zdeněk Fibich, and thus had the potential to co-create their media image. Published texts from music critics, semi-professional or lay writers were used. With a trawl of humorous magazines, the research could be extended to include cartoons which commented on cultural events. Due to the verification of...

Bedřich Smetana: umělec a člověk své doby

Bedřich Smetana: An Artist and a Man of His Times

Olga Mojžíšová

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):429-443 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.025  

Through his activities, Bedřich Smetana fundamentally influenced the formation of modern Czech musical life. The exceptional nature of his position lies in the breadth and versatility of his activities. As a composer, he founded modern Czech music and he asserted himself as a pianist, conductor, choirmaster, music teacher, and music critic. For eight years he was at the helm of the Czech opera of the Provisional Theatre and participated significantly in the establishment and activities of some of Prague’s cultural institutions. Smetana’s public endeavours and artistic efforts were closely related to societal events, especially from the...

Finanční situace Betty Fibichové (roz. Hanušové) a Zdeňka Fibicha v letech 1874–1885

The Financial Situation of Betty Fibich (Born Hanuš) and Zdeněk Fibich in 1874–1885

Kristýna Štiaková

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):444-458 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.026  

This paper is focused on the income and expenses of Betty Fibich (maiden name Hanuš) and Zdeněk Fibich in the years 1874–1885. Betty Fibich’s income consisted of salaries from the Provisional Theatre, church services, concerts and benefits. Zdeněk Fibich’s income consisted of salaries from the Provisional Theatre where he worked as choirmaster and bandmaster, his salary from the Russian orthodox cathedral, payment for compositions and income from teaching. Expenses consisted of their servants’ salaries, costumes for operas, the settlement of debts, money for food, rent and energy. The uncovered data reveals that the Fibichs...

Skladatelé v područí svého vydavatele

The Dependence of Composers on Their Publishers

Lenka Křupková

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 33(2), (2021):459-471 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2021.027  

Receiving a contract with a well-known publisher provided composers with an opportunity to promote their works in the concert hall or theatre, which was of course also in the interest of the publishers – each successful performance of a composition amounted to a higher demand for the piece. Last but not least, the publishing contract provided composers with a significant source of income, although in the case of Czech composers by no means the sole one. By using the examples of one generation of Czech composers ( J. B. Foerster, V. Novák, J. Suk) the aim of this paper is to demonstrate the specific features and differences in the conditions and...