The name of a large number of Bohemian musicians and composers of the 18th and 19th centuries; Dlabač mentioned 12 of them. Because the name (meaning ‘humble’) is so common, it is impossible to establish whether all the musicians who bore it were related. The most important of them, Franz Xaver (Thomas) Pokorny (1729–94), is considered separately below (with his sons Bonifaz, 1757–89, and Joseph Franz, b c1760).
Jan Pokorny (b Milevsko, 16 May 1689; d Bechyně, 27 Dec 1783) was a singer at the Premonstratensian church of St Benedict at Prague from 1697 to 1700, and then choral director and organist at Bechyně for 40 years; he may have been a composer. Václav Pichl was one of his pupils. About 1789 his son Josef was organist and director of music at Pont-ŕ-Mousson, near Metz in France. František Pokorny (b ?Vlašim; d Ronov, 13 Aug 1797) studied at Prague in about 1750 and later took a post as organist at Ronov where he was also active as a teacher. He composed a number of sacred works. Gotthard Pokorny (b Český Brod, 16 Nov 1733; d Brno, 4 Aug 1802) was first employed as a school assistant in his home town; from 1760 he was conductor at the cathedral of St Peter at Brno. He composed church music, violin concertos and other works.
Stephan Johann Pokorny (b Chrudim, c1740; d Vienna, 1792) studied at Německý Brod (now Havlíčkův Brod) from 1755 to 1760; he then entered the Augustinian order at Prague and became a pupil of Kajetan Mara. From 1780 he was organist of an Augustinian monastery in Vienna. Johann Ferdinand Pokorny (b Koloveč, nr Domažlice, 1797; d Jihlava, 3 March 1870) was the son of a teacher and studied at Prague; he later became a singer at the Premonstratensian monastery at Strahov near Prague. In 1819 he became director of a new music society in Jihlava where, for more than 20 years, he conducted the theatre orchestra in performances of operas by Mozart, Weber and others; from 1836 he was also director of the choir. His manuscript Geschichtliche Skizze des Musikvereins in der k.k. Stadt Iglau (in the collection of the Männergesangverein, Jihlava) contains the programmes of all his concerts.
Franz [František Xaver Jan] Pokorny (b Lstiboř [now Ctiboř, Benešov district], 22 Dec 1797; d Meidling, nr Vienna, 7 Aug 1850) was the son of a teacher. In 1819 he joined the orchestra of the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna as a clarinettist, and from 1822 he played in theatre orchestras in Pressburg (now Bratislava) and Baden. In 1827 he became conductor of the theatre orchestra in Pressburg and in 1835 director of the theatre. In 1836 he also took over direction of the theatre in Baden, and in 1837 that of the Theater in der Josefstadt. His opera company performed at Pressburg during the winter, at Vienna in the spring and at Baden in the summer. In 1845 he acquired the Theater an der Wien and he soon resigned all his directing posts except those in Vienna. His main interest was the narrative Singspiel, the most successful of which, performed under his direction, was Der Zauberschleier (1842) by his conductor A.E. Titl. Other conductors engaged by Pokorny included Suppé and Lortzing. Johann Baptist Pokorny (d Munich, after 1840) was a pupil of Fracassini, and entered the service of the Bamberg court some time before 1796. In that year he became a court musician; he was appointed assistant director of music at the court in 1800, and director of music in 1802. After the dissolution of the Kapelle he became conductor of the music society.
A number of masses, litanies, Rorate, Te Deum and Regina coeli settings, offertories and Czech pastorellas (in CZ-Pnm and many church libraries) are attributed simply to Pokorny.
ČSHS
DlabacžKL
EitnerQ
GerberNL
WurzbachL
Z. Nejedlý: Bedřich Smetana, ii (Prague, 1925, enlarged 2/1951 [as vol.iii])
K. Benyovsky: Das alte Theater (Bratislava, 1926)
O. Rommel: Die Alt-Wiener Volkskomödie: kulturgeschichtliche Studie aus Pressburgs Vergangenheit (Vienna, 1952)
B.R. Schimscha: Das Josefstädtertheater als Operbühne (diss., U. of Vienna, 1965)
T. Straková: ‘Hubda na Petrove v 17. až 18. století’ [Music at St Peter’s in the 17th and 18th centuries], ČMm, lxix (1984), 101–16
T. Straková: ‘Hubda na Petrove v 18. až 19. století’ [Music at St Peter’s in the 18th and 19th centuries], ČMm, lxx (1985), 181–93
TOMISLAV VOLEK