(Cz. Praha).
City on the River Vltava (Moldau), capital of Czechoslovakia from 1918 and from 1992 the Czech Republic, and formerly capital of Bohemia. Because of its strategic position it has fallen repeatedly under foreign domination and its musical life has been extensively influenced by ideas from other countries. A long history of musical education has also led to Prague composers and, particularly latterly, performers achieving international fame. The reputation of the citizens as music lovers is firmly established, and for its size the city has a greater degree of musical activity than almost any other European city.
J. BUŽGA, ADRIENNE SIMPSON/JITKA SLAVÍKOVÁ
Prague did not attain importance until it became the political headquarters of the Přemyslid dynasty (probably in the 9th century). In time the Přemyslid princes asserted their independence and built up an economically and politically important kingdom which, although bounded by German tribes of the Holy Roman Empire, managed to remain autonomous. The Přemyslids appear to have owed allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor; this was formally recognized in the Golden Sicilian Bull of 1212 in which Frederick II granted the rights of the Kingdom of Bohemia in perpetuity and guaranteed its borders. The Bohemians were empowered to take part in the election of the emperor but their obligations to him were minimal, which gave them a unique position.
The earliest cultural developments were associated with the introduction of Christianity. Most surviving medieval sources relate to the Church, the earliest containing neumes (of the St Gallen type) dating from the 11th century (see Plocek). The earliest records of vernacular (Czech) religious songs date from the same period. A troper of 1235 casts lights on the practice of plainchant at the cathedral. At the church of St Jiří liturgical dramas for Holy Week and Easter are known to have been performed from the 13th century; this practice developed in the 14th century and was adopted in other Prague churches. Monodic planctus (laments, for example of the Virgin and Mary Magdalen beneath the cross) are attested from the 14th century.
Secular music is less well documented. The court was a leading patron, and epics, sung by jongleurs and wandering minstrels, were popular there until the end of the 12th century. Subsequently Minnelied appears to have been encouraged at court. A number of important Minnesinger spent time in Prague, including Reinmar von Zweter, Frauenlob and Heinrich von Mügeln. King Václav II, whose coronation in 1297 occasioned great musical festivities, composed Minnelieder; the texts of three of his songs survive in the Manesse manuscript. Mülich von Prag belongs to the transition period from Minnelied to Meisterlied at the beginning of the 14th century; some of his work is in the 15th-century Colmar manuscript.
The last Přemyslid died in 1306, and by 1310 John of Luxembourg was king. The Luxembourgs were orientated towards France both politically and culturally; Machaut was in John of Luxembourg’s service from about 1323 and possibly spent some time in Prague. Nevertheless, the importance of the alliance with the Holy Roman Empire was realized and this culminated in the election of Charles of Bohemia as Emperor Charles IV in 1356. In 1346 the bishopric of Prague was elevated to an archbishopric, thereby achieving increased independence; from this period the Ambrosian and Old Slavonic rites were cultivated alongside the ubiquitous Roman rite. In the vernacular sacred songs of this period a folksong element is sometimes detectable, for instance in the koleda (Christmas song). There is early evidence of the importance of instrumental music; drums, trumpets and strings were played at the coronation of John of Luxembourg in 1311 and there was a court band. Town trumpeters are mentioned as early as 1409 and were obviously men of some stature since one, Aleš, became a councillor in 1414–15. Two secular instrumental melodies survive from the end of the 14th century, but most instrumental music was improvised. The organ was probably in use quite early but the first clear reference is to its use at the 1311 coronation. A new organ was built at the cathedral in 1369.
Prague’s elevation to imperial capital brought great wealth to the city. In 1348 Charles IV founded Prague University, later named the Charles-Ferdinand University after him. The first university in central Europe, it was modelled on that of Paris. The Musica of Johannes de Muris was evidently used there as commentaries on it, together with treatises by those connected with the university, survive; the earliest treatise preserved in Prague that deals with polyphony is Tractatus de cantu perfecto et imperfecto by Henricus de Zeelandia (late 14th century). At that time Prague was essentially a centre of serious learning and conflicts arose between the intellectual leaders of the city and those who came seeking favours from the court; among the latter churchmen were prominent. There was much antagonism to the moral laxity of the Church, and demands were made for services in the vernacular. In 1391 the Bethlehem Chapel was founded expressly for vernacular preaching to the common people; Jan Hus became a preacher there in 1403, aiming to abolish church abuses and return to the simplicity of early Christianity; he was initially supported by the Archbishop of Prague. The Hussite movement had far-reaching effects on music and led in particular to an increased cultivation of vernacular religious songs. The use of instruments was forbidden, and polyphony, secular music and dancing were discouraged. The continuing development of vernacular hymnody during the 16th and early 17th centuries stimulated the publication of many hymnbooks, some including music (see Cantional, §1). The best-known printing house in Prague was that of Georg Nigrin, active around 1600.
Under the Jagellon dynasty (1471–1526) a considerable flowering of music took place. The Jagellons re-established religious tolerance and under their patronage a school of composition grew up influenced by Netherlandish polyphony. Much church music was written, especially for the Utraquists who had their own form of Mass which used Latin and Czech, omitted the Agnus Dei and had other variants. Polyphonic music and Czech vernacular songs were cultivated in literary brotherhoods, guilds of leading citizens who met in many of the Prague churches to perform music; these groups flourished all over Bohemia and each had its own songbook. The Prague collegium musicum (founded 1616) was the most famous. In the schools and university polyphonic odes with humanistic texts were cultivated.
A Habsburg, Ferdinand, younger brother of Emperor Charles V, was elected king in 1526 and became emperor on his brother’s abdication in 1556. He made Prague an important musical centre, albeit at the expense of native composers and performers; he founded a Hofkapelle in 1564 and engaged foreign musicians, and many noble families followed his example. His successor Rudolf II (1576–1612) was served by such outstanding musicians as Monte, Regnart, Kerle and Luython. Handl worked as an organist in Prague at this period. The concern of the Habsburgs was to secure the imperial succession; they ceased to respect Bohemian rights and liberties and as Catholics they felt antagonism towards the Protestants. The struggle for political and religious liberty became outright war in 1618 when an attempt was launched to make the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine, King of Bohemia. The Czechs were finally defeated by imperial troops at White Mountain near Prague in 1620.
The events of 1620 wrought a considerable change in Prague’s cultural life. With the firm establishment of Habsburg domination, it was no longer capital of an independent state but merely a provincial capital. The nobility of Bohemia were dispossessed to make way for foreign appointees, many of whom were responsible for the city’s beautiful Baroque palaces, but few of whom spent much time there, preferring to stay close to Vienna, the centre of political power. For musicians an absentee nobility meant a lack of patrons. Another factor was the persecution of the population, and this allied to lack of patronage caused an unprecedented emigration of musicians in the 17th and 18th centuries to obtain better positions and greater artistic opportunities in other parts of Europe. The leading composers resident in Prague during these two centuries were worthy and talented but tended to be inferior to their compatriots who sought fame abroad. Apart from the lack of employment for the many musicians that Prague produced, the Habsburg domination had other effects, including the almost complete obliteration of the Czech language as a vehicle for culture. As late as the 1820s opera was given in German and even the art songs produced by nationalistically inclined composers such as V.J. Tomášek were settings of German poetry. But although the Habsburg influence in Prague was not generally favourable to native composers and musicians, it fostered a varied musical life: oratorio in particular flourished, and works by Hasse, Caldara, Fux, Lotti, Leo and other widely known composers were often heard.
The most notable resident composer in the Baroque era (though he also spent much time in Italy) was B.M. Černohorský, choirmaster of St Jakub and a composer of organ music, who attracted many pupils from outside Prague and in effect founded the city’s strong tradition of organ playing. F.I.A. Tůma and Josef Seger continued his work: Seger was renowned for his church and organ music and Tůma wrote orchestral partitas and chamber music. F.X. Brixi and J.A. Kozeluch (Koželuh) were other noteworthy composers of church music in the mid- and late 18th century; the former also wrote delightful organ concertos. The 18th century also saw the publication, by T.B. Janovka, of the first music dictionary in the Czech lands, Clavis ad thesaurum magnae artis musicae (Prague, 1701).
The growth of opera in the 17th and 18th centuries was one of the most important musical developments in Prague. The taste of the new aristocracy was for Italian opera but, with little native tradition to build on, the early exponents were mainly musicians from abroad. Initially performances were irregular, given during the visits of the Viennese court by touring Italian companies. These occasionally introduced works on Czech subjects, such as Bartolomeo Bernardi’s La Libussa, performed in Prague in about 1703–5. The coronation of Emperor Charles VI as King of Bohemia (1723) stimulated operatic enterprise; the premičre of Fux’s Costanza e Fortezza, conducted by Caldara, was given as part of the festivities and among those taking part were C.H. Graun, J.J. Quantz, S.L. Weiss, Tartini and J.D. Zelenka (see fig.1). An Italian company, directed by Antonio Denzio, was engaged, giving its first performance on 24 October 1724 (Bioni’s Orlando furioso). It continued on a regular basis at Count Sporck’s Prague residence and his summer palace, Kuks, until Sporck’s death; the repertory of this company included works by Vivaldi, among them several that received their premičres in Prague. After 1738 operas were given in various Prague theatres and visiting companies, run by skilful Italian managers such as Angelo and Pietro Mingotti and Pasquale Bondini, continued to be popular. Important premičres were those of Gluck’s Ezio (1750) and Issipile (1752).
One pressing need was that for a real opera house. This was fulfilled by Count Nostitz (1725–94), who founded the Nostitzsches Nationaltheater with a company directed by Bondini in 1783, which became known as the Stavovské Divadlo (Estates Theatre, financed by the Bohemian Estates, 1798) and subsequently as the Tylovo Divadlo (Tyl Theatre, 1945) and, again, the Estates Theatre (1991). At first Sunday afternoon performances were given in Czech and after 1861 two more weekly Czech performances were added. Following the success of Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) and Le nozze di Figaro (1786) Mozart was invited to Prague at the beginning of 1787, when he conducted the new Prague Symphony and a performance of Figaro; his success there led to Bondini’s commissioning a new opera, to be given the following autumn at royal wedding celebrations. This was Don Giovanni, which Mozart conducted on 29 October. He visited Prague twice more, briefly in 1789 when travelling between Dresden and Berlin, and in the last weeks of his life, when he conducted the premičre of La clemenza di Tito, commissioned by the impresario Domenico Guardasoni on behalf of the Bohemian Estates for the festivities surrounding the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, and given on 6 September 1791 (at first with only limited success). Although Italian opera continued to predominate, the repertory of the Estates Theatre after 1790 reveals an increasing number of German works and even one or two French operas. The ousting of Italian opera was completed under Karl Liebich’s direction (1807–16); he engaged as conductor first Wenzel Müller (1807–13) and then C.M. von Weber (1813–16), together with whom he broadened the repertory to include operas by several French composers, Beethoven and Spohr, raised performance standards and worked to dispel some of the apathy engendered in the city’s musicians by the popularity of Mozart resulting from the success of Figaro and Don Giovanni. Nevertheless the main establishment figures at the beginning of the 19th century, B.D. Weber, first director of the Prague Conservatory (founded 1811), and J.A. Vitásek, first director of the Varhanická Škola v Praze (Prague Organ School, 1830), were firm Mozartians and strongly resisted the introduction of a more modern idiom.
The development of instrumental concerts in Prague was a disorganized process. Although the nobility (e.g. the Kinsky, Lobkowitz, Hartig, Pachta and Černin families) had their own bands, these were seldom resident in Prague, and the only orchestral tradition was that of the opera orchestras. A wealthy merchant, Jan Ratzenbeck, offered refreshments and instrumental music at a house in the New Town district from 1754, but the first regular series of concerts were those of the musical academy organized by Antonio Duni in 1767 and given once or twice weekly; how long these continued is not recorded. The numerous synagogues, some equipped with organs, were important centres of orchestral music throughout the 18th century. Many travelling virtuosos visited Prague in the second half of the 18th century; the first licence for a public performance of this kind was granted to two Italian lutenists on 7 November 1764. Touring instrumentalists apparently found Prague audiences eager and undiscriminating and few of these visitors were artists of the first rank, though there were exceptions, such as the clarinettist Stadler in 1791 and Beethoven, who visited the city six times between 1796 and 1812. The most prominent Czech composers working in Prague in the later 18th century were F.X. Dušek, a fine pianist and composer who was host to Mozart on his visits to the city, and Tomášek, a pioneer of the Romantic piano piece and famous as a piano teacher. During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries instrument making flourished in Prague; organ builders and violin makers were particularly active.
The Church, and particularly the Jesuits, played a leading role in Prague’s musical life in the 17th and 18th centuries. Catholicism was reintroduced; the monasteries, mostly in ruins since the Hussite wars, were rebuilt, and churches were refurbished and new ones built in Baroque style. These became important musical centres until most of the monasteries were secularized under Joseph II. The Jesuit colleges emphasized music and trained boys as church musicians as well as providing opportunities for composers of choral and organ music. Prague’s Jesuit College was founded in 1556. The Clementinum, later the home of the State and University Library, was originally a Jesuit monastery; among its pupils in the 18th century were Johann Stamitz, J.D. Zelenka, Franz Benda and Josef Mysliveček. The Clementinum had its own music printing press (the only other notable music publisher in 18th-century Prague was Georg Labaun, who published the works of Černohorský). The great Baroque church of St Mikuláš in the Little Quarter, which was rebuilt from 1703, was the venue for lavish performances of oratorios and other ecclesiastical choral music. Another important church was that of St František built in 1688 and run by the Knights of the Cross; the post of organist and choirmaster there was one of the most coveted in Prague and the choirboys were renowned for their performances of school and sepulchre dramas with music. The church of Nativity in the Loreto (1694), the Minorite church of St Jakub (rebuilt in 1702) and the Premonstratensian monastery of Strahov (founded 1148 but much altered during the Baroque period) were also important.
During the period of the Mozart cult there were a number of political changes that were to create the opportunity and impetus for the growth of Czech nationalism. The reign of Joseph II (1780–90) – the so-called ‘period of enlightenment’ – saw a number of important reforms in the Czech lands, including the abolition of serfdom and the reintroduction of religious freedom, as well as the abolition of the fraternities of literati (though their musical importance was no longer great).
Administratively, however, Habsburg control was not weakened and this was to prove a spur to nationalist ambitions. Even before the reforms there had been agitation for the use of Czech in schools, and scholars had begun to rediscover the country’s independent past. A Piarist priest, M.A. Voight (1733–87), wrote Von dem Alterthume und Gebrauche des Kirchengesanges in Böhmen (1775), which heralded a number of antiquarian publications on music culminating in the three-volume Allgemeines historisches Künstler-Lexikon für Böhmen und zum Theil auch für Mähren und Schlesien (1815) by the choirmaster of Strahov, B.J. Dlabač. The Royal Bohemian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1784 and in 1791 a chair of Czech language and literature was created at Prague University.
Just as opera had reflected the demand for things foreign after 1620, so it quickly came to reflect the growing tide of national feeling. An enterprising Italian company performed Die Zauberflöte in a Czech translation in the 1794–5 season, and subsequently many more works were given in Czech. A society for the promotion of music in Bohemia was set up in 1808 and was instrumental in establishing the Prague Conservatory in 1811. However, the conservatory’s function was to train performers (composition did not become part of the curriculum until the late 19th century) and as much for this reason as for the conservatism of B.D. Weber, its director, it played no role in the creation of a national musical idiom. Similarly Societa, established as a musicians’ benevolent society in 1803, sponsored regular concerts but concentrated on the works of foreign composers. There were no composers of sufficient calibre in Prague at the beginning of the 19th century to fulfil the dearest wish of the nationalists, the creation of an authentic Czech opera. F.J. Škroup’s Dráteník (‘The Tinker’), first performed on 2 February 1826, was a Czech opera of the Singspiel type and a great success, but his subsequent works failed; the Singspiel was too slight a medium to satisfy a public familiar with C.M. von Weber and his contemporaries. Škroup’s failure caused a temporary reversion to a repertory dominated by foreign works.
The Varhanická Škola v Praze (Prague Organ School) was founded by the Spolek pro Pěstování Církevní Hudby v Čechách (Society for the Promotion of Church Music in Bohemia) in 1830, and the most important directors before its amalgamation with the Prague Conservatory in 1890 were Vitásek (1830–39) and F.Z. Skuherský (1866–90). In the mid-1830s the spark of musical nationalism was rekindled, initially in response to the publication of a number of folksong collections. Composers attempted to incorporate folk material into modest choral compositions, while traditional dances and the polka, a new dance based on traditional models, became popular in the salons. Polka composers such as Joseph Labitzky and František Hilmar were regarded as nationalist pioneers. In the years 1835–9 and 1844 the six volumes of Věnec (‘Garland of Patriotic Songs’) were published in a largely successful attempt to create Czech art song. Political encouragement was given by the ideas and aftermath of 1848, the ‘year of revolutions’, and by the Habsburg defeats in Lombardy in 1859. In the 1860s two important institutions were founded: the Prague Hlahol (male-voice choir, 1861) and the Umělecká Beseda (Artistic Society, 1863), an association of leading figures in all the arts which remained in existence until 1973 and was then re-established in 1990; it founded the Hudební Matice publishing company (1871) and the influential journal Hudební revue (1908–20).
Standards of performance continued to rise. In 1840 two concert-giving societies were inaugurated, the Cecilská Jednota or Cecilienverein (to about 1864) and the Žofínská Akademie (Sophien Akademie, to 1899); orchestral music was thus put on a more professional basis. The expensive but excellently prepared concerts of the Žofín PO were particularly notable. The German-dominated opera at the Estates Theatre continued to command respect; under Škroup a series of Wagner productions showed the level of improvement achieved: Tannhäuser (1854), Lohengrin (1856) and Der fliegende Holländer (1856) were resounding successes. However, it was important to Czech citizens that they should have their own opera house. Plans were made for a theatre for Czech opera and drama; when it opened in 1862 as the Prozatímní Divadlo (Provisional Theatre) there was still no suitable Czech opera to perform, and its first opera production under J.N. Maýr (1862–6 and 1874–81) was of Cherubini’s Les deux journées.
In 1861 Count Jan Harrach (1828–99) offered prizes for the best opera and libretto on a Czech theme. In response to this competition Smetana, already established as a conductor of the Hlahol and with the Žofínská Akademie, wrote his first opera Braniboři v Čechách (‘The Brandenburgers in Bohemia’). After some disagreement (Smetana had made enemies in the Prague establishment by his criticism of their standards), his opera was declared the winner and he conducted the first performance at the Provisional Theatre on 5 January 1866 with tremendous success, and that year he became the theatre’s principal conductor until Maýr resumed the post in 1874. Some additional buildings were occupied by the opera during this period, notably the Nové České Divadlo (New Czech Theatre, 1869–75) and the Novoměstské Divadlo (New Town Theatre, 1857–85, cap. c3000), both wooden structures suitable only for summer performances. Smetana composed a series of operas on nationalistic subjects which were received with varying degrees of critical acclaim (The Bartered Bride failed at its first performance on 30 May 1866). He demonstrated the possibility of genuine Czech opera and so encouraged other composers. During his period at the Provisional Theatre he introduced operas by Karel Bendl, Vilém Blodek, Leopold Měchura, Karel Šebor and J.R. Rozkošný. From the 1870s to the 90s opera was also performed on other Prague stages: in the New Town Theatre, the New Czech Theatre and the Aréna Na Hradbách (Arena on the Ramparts, 1869–75, on the site of the present National Museum), which was replaced by the Národní Arena Na Hradbách (National Arena on the Ramparts, 1876–80).
Smetana’s most politically effective opera was Libuše, a festival opera that deals with the legendary founder of Prague and emphasizes the historic achievements of the Czech nation. It was written for the opening on 11 June 1881 of the new Národní Divadlo (National Theatre), which absorbed the Provisional Theatre. It burnt down on 12 August the same year and Czech Prague music lovers united in the effort to rebuild it; it was reopened on 18 November 1883, again with Libuše. During the 19th century the premičres of a number of important Czech works were given there, including Dvořák’s Čert a Káča (‘The Devil and Kate’, 1899) and Rusalka (1901), Fibich’s Nevěsta messinská (‘The Bride of Messina’, 1884) and his trilogy of stage melodramas, Hippodamia (1890). Works from abroad were not neglected; a balance was struck between Italian, French and German operas and a number of Polish and Russian works were also performed. A highlight was Tchaikovsky’s visit in February 1888 to conduct Yevgeny Onegin.
After the opening of the Provisional Theatre, the Estates Theatre, with Škroup as conductor (1827–57), had been slightly eclipsed and became exclusively a German theatre. It was no match, however, for the National Theatre despite extensive renovation, and the Neues Deutsches Theater was subsequently opened in 1888 (it was renamed the Smetana Theatre in 1949 and the Prague State Opera in 1992) on the site of the former New Town Theatre. The German company had an outstanding director in Angelo Neumann (1885–1910), while important figures at the National Theatre were František Adolf Šubert (1883–1900) and Karel Kovařovic (1900–20), who was one of the great figures in Czech music culture and was responsible for firmly establishing the company. Kovařovic gave the Prague premičre of Janáček’s Jenůfa (but with his own alterations to the orchestration), which established the composer’s reputation. There was a pact whereby the National Theatre generally gave the Prague premičres of new French works and the Neues Deutsches Theater those of German operas (e.g. Salome in 1906); however, the Neues Deutsches Theater mounted the Prague premičre of Pelléas et Mélisande (1908), the National Theatre that of Elektra (1910), and Parsifal received its first two performances in the city (in Czech and German) at the rival theatres on the same night, 1 January 1914. The Czech-German rivalry that permeated Prague musical life at the end of the century was reflected at first in these two theatres, though some degree of cooperation was necessary over performing rights and the exchange of orchestra players and singers. Less important was the Městské Divadlo na Královských Vinohradech (Town Theatre in the Royal Vineyards), which was built outside Prague in 1907 mainly as a dramatic theatre, but it also mounted operas until 1919 and was especially outstanding during the period 1914–18 when it was under the direction of Ostrčil.
The foundation of the Kammermusikverein in 1876 marked the beginning of what has become Prague’s main musical achievement. Chamber groups soon began to be established, most notably the Czech Quartet (1891). The Český Spolek pro Komorní Hudbu (Czech Society for Chamber Music) was formed in 1894 as a Czech rival to the Kammermusikverein; between 1894 and 1918 it gave 208 concerts and has continued to be active. While the Czech society boasted the best performers, the Germans caused the greatest furore when Schoenberg conducted his Pierrot lunaire in 1913. The same division by nationality was evident in the sphere of musicology which was first taught at the bilingual Prague University in 1869 when Ambros was appointed extraordinarius in music history. The university was divided nationally in 1883: the aesthetician Otakar Hostinský lectured on musical subjects in the Czech section from 1883, and Zdeněk Nejedlý lectured in music history from 1905 until World War II. From 1885 to 1896 Adler was extraordinarius in musicology at the German section and was followed by Heinrich Rietsch (1900–27). The Prague Conservatory grew in importance through the century, especially after the Prague Organ School was amalgamated with it in 1890. It produced many virtuosos, including the internationally known violinists Josef Slavík, František Ondříček, Otakar Ševčík and Jan Kubelík. Three composers closely connected with it were Bendl, Karel Knittl and Dvořák; the last was appointed professor of composition, harmony and form in 1890. His masterclass produced the leading Prague composers of the post-World War I period, including Josef Suk (i), and Dvořák’s international stature as a composer was also a factor in maintaining the morale of Czech musicians in the city during the difficult period at the turn of the century, when pressure for freedom from Habsburg domination reached its zenith.
In the course of the 19th century Prague became a first-rate musical centre. Throughout the century it was popular with touring virtuosos, and the rise in performance standards and the discrimination of its musicians were reflected in its attracting the best performers and many distinguished composers. Paganini visited the city in 1828 and 1829, Chopin in 1829 and 1830, and Wagner as early as 1832; when Berlioz went in 1846 he conducted three concerts and was impressed by the capabilities of the Žofín PO in excerpts from his Roméo et Juliette. Liszt visited several times in the 1840s and conducted his Hungarian Coronation Mass in the Cathedral of St Vít in 1856. Mahler conducted at the Neues Deutsches Theater during the 1885–6 season and gave the first performance of his Seventh Symphony on 9 September 1908 with the Czech PO. In 1894 the orchestra of the National Theatre had organized four concerts as the Česká Filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic), the first of which was given in 1896 under the direction of Dvořák, to raise money for their pension fund. The Czech PO became an independent orchestra in February 1901, after a strike by the members of the National Theatre orchestra, and gave its first concert under Čelanský. Other conductors before 1918 were Oskar Nedbal (1896–1906) and Vilém Zemánek (1902–6).
A number of music publishers flourished: Marco Berra, an Italian immigrant, started his publishing house in 1811 and was particularly associated with the early nationalist composers. Other publishers included Christoph & Kuhé, Jan Hoffman (1814–49), who collaborated with Berra in the publication of Věnec, the Umělecká Beseda and the Hudební Matice. The firm of Urbánek, founded by F.A. Urbánek, dominated the later 19th century and was active until the nationalization of the publishing industry after 1948. A number of periodicals devoted to music also appeared: Dalibor, which began in 1858 and was twice revived, finally ceasing in 1927; Hudební listy, which published also with interruptions, over the period 1873–90; Hudební revue (1908–20); Cyrill (1874–1948); and Listy Hudební matice (1921–48).
On 28 October 1918, with the end of World War I and the Habsburg Empire disintegrating, Prague became capital of the new Republic of Czechoslovakia. The city’s return to political importance coincided with a slight decline in musical status. The great composers and conductors who had shaped Prague’s musical life at the end of the 19th century were either dead or died within a few years of the Republic’s foundation. The second generation of post-Smetana Romantic nationalists, mostly products of the Dvořák masterclass at Prague Conservatory, became dominant. Particularly notable were J.B. Foerster, Novák, Suk and Otakar Ostrčil; however, none of these gained the international repute that was accorded Leoš Janáček, whose success drew postwar attention away from Prague to the Moravian capital of Brno. Moreover, although Foerster, Novák and Suk all taught at the conservatory masterclass, they had surprisingly little influence on the course of Prague’s musical life. Foerster was a recluse, Suk more interested in his performing career and Novák, although a passionate innovator and a very important teacher, was too stormy and undiplomatic a figure to be an effective leader of a more progressive style of musical life. Only Ostrčil can be said to have played an important role, as chief conductor of the National Theatre from 1920 to 1935; although not an innovatory composer himself, he made considerable efforts to include modern works in the operatic repertory and caused a riot with his production of Berg’s Wozzeck (11 November 1926).
In 1920 the small Royal Provincial Theatre (formerly the Estates Theatre) became part of the National Theatre complex and only reverted to a German theatre during the Nazi occupation (1939–45); it was renamed the Tyl Theatre in 1948 and resumed the name of Estates Theatre in 1991, and is most suitable for Mozart and other small-scale works. The Neues Deutsches Theater continued to compete with the National Theatre: Zemlinsky was director from 1911 to 1927, and was succeeded by Szell, under whom the theatre’s repertory included works by Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Krenek, Milhaud, Hindemith, Weill and Ravel. At the National Theatre Talich succeeded Ostrčil in 1935 and was chief conductor there until 1944 and for the 1947–8 season. After the liberation in 1945 a new experimental Czech theatre, called the Grand Opera of Fifth of May, was established in the former Neues Deutsches Theater under the direction of Alois Hába. In 1948 it was also incorporated into the National Theatre complex and in 1949 renamed the Smetana Theatre; it was renovated in the 1970s as were many important historic buildings in Prague. Musicians of German origin were still numerous in Prague between the wars, and the Verein für Musikalischen Privataufführungen, a group of German composers who followed the Second Viennese School, were active from about 1922 and had considerable influence through their journal, Der Auftakt.
The inter-war period was notable for the founding and development of a number of musical institutions. After 1918 the Czech PO became an important ensemble under Talich (1919–41), Kubelík (1936–48), Ančerl (1950–68), Neumann (1968–90), Jiří Bělohlávek (1990–92), Gerd Albrecht (1994–6) and Vladimir Ashkenazy (1998–). Czechoslovak Radio began in Prague in 1923 and a radio orchestra, Symfonický Orchestr Československého Rozhlasu, conducted by K.B. Jirák and Otakar Jeremiáš, was formed the following year; subsequent conductors have been Karel Ančerl, Alois Klíma, Jaroslav Krombholc, František Vajnar and, since 1985, Vladimir Válek. Pride in the achievements of the two pioneering nationalist composers was marked by the establishment of the Smetana Museum (1928) and the Dvořák Museum (1932). The Spolek pro Moderní Hudbu (Society for Modern Music) flourished between 1920 and 1939, while many 19th-century musical institutions, such as the amateur choral societies and the Umělecká Beseda, remained active. Avant-garde composition was centred on Alois Hába, who pioneered a microtonal system of composition that was influential for many years and attracted composers from abroad to his composition class at the conservatory, which began in 1924. Other prominent composers resident in Prague in the 1920s were Bohuslav Martinů and Ladislav Vycpálek. Gustav Becking (1930–45) and Paul Nettl were notable musicologists at the German section of the university.
The Symfonický Orchestr Hlavního Města Prahy FOK (FOK SO) was founded in 1934 under Rudolf Pekárek: other conductors have included Smetáček (1942–72), Ladislav Slovák (1972–6), Jiří Bělohlávek (1978–89), Petr Altrichter (1990–92), Martin Turnovský (1992–5) and Gaetano Delogu (1995–8). In 1935 a contemporary music society known as Přítomnost (The Present) was founded under Hába’s aegis and attracted not only his disciples but composers of other orientations, including those associated with the Soviet-aligned Union of Workers (Svaz DDOČ), led by Ervín Schulhoff and Vít Nejedlý, and the neo-classical group allied to the Society of Graphic Artists (Mánes), who included Pavel Bořkovec and Iša Krejčí; independent composers such as the jazz-inspired Jaroslav Ježek and E.F. Burian were also associated with Přítomnost, which had its own journal, Rytmus. Ježek and Burian collaborated with the poets and actors Voskovec and Werich in the popular satirical revue theatre Osvobozené Divadlo (Liberation Theatre), which ran from 1925 to 1938. In the 1920s and 30s Prague re-established its position as the musical capital of the country: the second, third and 13th festivals of the ISCM were staged there, and at the second in 1924 Schoenberg’s Erwartung had its world premičre and Bartók’s Dance Suite its Prague premičre.
The independent Czechoslovak Republic was short-lived; by 1939 it had been incorporated into Hitler’s Grossdeutsches Reich, and until 1945 the city was isolated from musical trends elsewhere. The German occupation broke up musical institutions: Prague University was closed, as was the National Theatre (in 1944), and even the Neues Deutsches Theater ceased to function. Many musicians fled in time and several died in the allied forces; a significant number of those remaining were imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. The Jewish community in Prague, one of the largest and best established in central Europe, and its important musical tradition were almost entirely obliterated. In May 1945 the Soviet Army entered Prague. Cultural life was quickly re-established and musicians lost little time in reopening international contacts and reorganizing themselves. Among the first events were the creation of the Syndikát Československých Skladatelů (Syndicate of Czechoslovak Composers, 1946–9) and the inception of the Pražské Jaro (Prague Spring) festival in 1946. The festival was intended as a means of attracting visiting artists to the city for the first time since 1939; from 1946 the Prague Spring became a three-week annual festival of considerable repute. After the war the German language ceased to be used in public; since then German-speaking musicians and German musical culture have played no more important a part in Prague’s cultural life than any other foreign import.
After 1945 Czechoslovakia became a socialist state and gradually all musical institutions were nationalized; for example, responsibility for music education was transferred to the state. New specialist primary schools for the musically gifted were set up, and a new Academy of Musical Arts was founded in 1946. Many organizations were established to cover various aspects of musical activity. These were mostly based in Prague and included organizations replacing a number of previously independent firms. The state record company Supraphon (founded in 1961 as the Státní Hudební Vydavatelství – State Music Publishers – and renamed in 1967), the state film industry with its own symphony orchestra based at Prague-Barrandov (1945), the Státní Nakladatelství Krásné Literatury Hudby a Umění (State Publishers of Literature, Music and Art, 1953) and the state concert agency Pragokoncert (1962) are typical examples. The Český Hudební Fond (Czech Music Fund, 1953) played a large role in propagating new Czech music and also provided musicians’ pensions, grants and health camps. The music fund encouraged performances of new Czech music abroad and published a bulletin, Music News from Prague, in several languages. It also promoted concerts in Prague including the important Týden Nové Tvorby (Week of New Works), an annual festival of new Czech compositions in all media which began in 1956. The publishing company Panton produces scores, books and recordings of contemporary music.
Musicological study also received state encouragement; an important factor was the systematic removal of musical archives and other items from private hands to central locations. Much of the wealth of castle and monastic libraries, including some medieval and many 18th- and 19th-century music manuscripts, was placed in the music division of the National Museum in Prague. A fine collection of historic instruments was also created there. Another important manuscript collection is in the library of Prague University. Apart from the musicological items contained in Hudební rozhledy, two important musicological journals were established in Prague: Miscellanea musicologica (1956–), edited at the music department of Prague University, and Hudební věda (1964–), which stemmed from the music section of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Prominent musicologists working at the Czech Academy of Sciences have included Josef Bek, Miroslav K. Černý, Jarmila Doubravová, Jaroslav Jiránek, Josef Kotek, Jan Kouba, Milan Kuna, Vladimír Lébl, Jitka Ludvová, Zdeňka Pilková, Václav Plocek, Ivan Poledňák, Karel Risinger, Petr Vít and Tomislav Volek. Musicologists at Prague University included Josef Hutter, Antonín Sychra, František Mužik, Milan Poštolka, Ivan Vojtěch and Jaromír Černý.
The logical conclusion of this state control of musical activities was the centralization of all musicians – performers, composers, historians and critics – under one organization, the Svaz Českých Skladatelů a Koncertních Umělců (Union of Czech Composers and Concert Artists), with its headquarters in Prague, in 1972. The basing of so many of the national organizations in Prague has naturally made it dominant in musical politics, but it has to some extent lost its leadership in performance with the creation of symphony orchestras, opera companies and other ensembles in provincial cities. Perhaps because it has been so closely associated with the musical establishment Prague has tended to lag behind in the exploration of contemporary trends of composition. However, in the 1960s new groups began to form. The Pražská Skupina Nové Hudby (Prague New Music Group, 1965) included the composers Zbyněk Vostřák and Marek Kopelent. A number of performing ensembles for new music were formed – Komorní Harmonie (Chamber Harmony, 1960), Musica Viva Pragensis (1961), Sonatori di Praga (1964), Due Boemi di Praga (1964) and others. A number of composers, such as Miloslav Kabeláč, began to cultivate electronic and aleatory techniques. In addition to the composers already mentioned other progressive composers working in the city include Petr Eben, Jan Fischer, Luboš Fišer, Jan Hanuš, Svatopluk Havelka, Viktor Kalabis, Jan Klusák, O.F. Korte, Zdeněk Lukáš, Otmar Mácha, Klement Slavický, Milan Slavický, Vladimír Sommer and others. An annual jazz festival began in 1964, while the jazz-pop world of the satirical revue started at the Semafor Theatre in 1959 with the poet Jiří Suchý and the composer Jiří Šlitr.
The musical life of Prague in the 1970s and 80s was rich and varied. A great deal of contemporary Czech music was heard, although until the 1980s there was a degree of isolation from trends abroad. Leading ensembles and performers were regularly invited to the Prague Spring, a highlight of the musical year. Opera and ballet were performed by the National Theatre Company at the Smetana Theatre, Tyl Theatre and National Theatre. Czechoslovak Radio played a leading role through the concert performances of the Radio SO, and the annual Concertino Praga started in 1955 as an international competition for young musicians featuring a different instrument each year. The many internationally known ensembles originating in Prague have included the Czech Quartet (founded 1891), Prague Quartet (1919), Czech Nonet (1924), Prague Wind Quintet (1928), Czech Piano Quartet (1941), Czech Philharmonic Wind Quintet (1944), Smetana Quartet (1945), Vlach Quartet (1950), Ars Rediviva (1951), Dvořák Quartet (1951), Prague Chamber Orchestra (1951), Suk Trio (1951), Foerster Trio (1955), Novák Quartet (1955), Prague String Quartet (1955), Prague Madrigalists (1956), Czech Chamber Orchestra (1957), Prague Chamber Soloists (1961), Talich Quartet (1962), Musici Pragenses (1962), Panocha Quartet (1968), Pražák Quartett (1972), Martinů Quartet (1976), Stamic Quartet and Wihan Quartet (both 1985) and Škampa Quartet (1989). Many of these groups have had a continuous history of distinction through many changes of personnel.
Since the revolution in 1989 and the creation of the Czech Republic in 1992, many changes have taken place in the cultural life of Prague. The National Theatre and the Estates Theatre separated from the State Opera Prague (formerly the Smetana Theatre) in 1992 and now function as two independent theatres. New chamber and orchestral ensembles were established, the most important among them the Pražská Komorní Filharmonie (Prague Philharmonia) (1994, music director Jiří Bělohlávek) and the Czech National SO (1993, directed by Zdeněk Košler from 1993 to 1995 and Paul Freeman from 1996), and several string quartets (including the Apollon Quartet, 1993 and the M. Nostitz Quartet, 1994). The city remains one of Europe’s leading centres of chamber music. The Prague Spring is still the most significant festival, but important festivals established since 1989 include the Pražský Podzim (Prague Autumn, 1997) and the St Václav Festival (1992), both held in September, and Musica Iudaica (1992), held in October. The concert agency Pragokoncert lost its monopoly in concert life, after 1989, and many new agencies have been created. The two most important recording and publishing organizations, Supraphon and Panton, also underwent fundamental changes. In 1991 Supraphon was divided into the publishing house Editio Supraphon (renamed Edito Praga in 1998) and the record company Supraphon. The publishing house Panton was amalgamated with the German publishing house Schott and now operates as Panton International. Many new recording companies have emerged (Clarton, Gramofonové Závody Loděnice, Lotos, Multisonic, Music Vars, Rosa, Ultraphon). The former unions of Czech and Czechoslovak composers were disbanded, and in 1990 the new Asociace Hudebních Umělců a Vědců (Association of Musicians and Musicologists) was created. It embraces some 14 smaller societies, among them Společnost Českých Skladatelů (Society of Czech Composers), which organizes the annual festival Dny Soudobé Hudby (Contemporary Music Days), now held in November, and Společnost Hudební Rozhledy (Musical Survey Society), which publishes the monthly journal Hudební rozhledy.
A General. B To 1800. C After 1800
OG (J. Ludvová) [incl further bibliography]
O. Teuber: Geschichte des Prager Theaters (Prague, 1883–8)
V. Němec: Pražské varhany [Prague organs] (Prague, 1944)
J. Kotek: ‘K historii stavovských organizací českých hudebníků’ [A contribution to the history of professional organizations of Czech musicians], HV, iii (1966), 133–50
J. Berkovec and V. Petrovský: Streifzüge durch das musikalische Prag (Prague, 1968)
J. Wenig: Prahou za hudbou [Through Prague in search of music] (Prague, 1972, 2/1974)
J. Všetečka and J. Berkovec: Praga musicopolis Europae (Prague, 1983)
R. von Procházka: Mozart in Prag (Prague, 1892; rev. and enlarged, 1938, by P. Nettl as Mozart in Böhmen)
R. Perlík: K dějinám hudby a zpěvu na Strahově [History of music and song in the Strahov monastery] (Prague, 1925)
E. Trolda: Prager Kirchenmusik im Zeitalter des Barocks (Prague, 1929)
O. Kamper: Hudební Praha věku [18th-century musical Prague] (Prague, 1936)
T. Volek: ‘Hudebníci Starého a Nového města pražského v roce 1770’ [Musicians of Prague’s old and new town districts in 1770], MMC, no.1 (1956), 43–9
P. Nettl: Das Prager Quartierbuch des Personals der Krönungsoper 1723 (Vienna, 1957)
T. Volek: ‘Čtyři studie k dějinám české hudby 18. století’ [Four studies in 18th-century Czech music history], MMC, no.6 (1958), 39–135
T. Volek: ‘Repertoir Nosticovského divadla v Praze z let 1794, 1796–8’ [Repertory of the Nostitzsches Nationaltheater 1794, 1796–8], MMC, no.16 (1961), 5–191
Z. Culka: ‘Pražské prameny k historii polních trubačů a timpanistů’ [Prague sources for the history of field trumpeters and timpanists], HV, xiii (1976), 362–71; xiv (1977), 72–91
J. Bužga: ‘Musiker und musikalische Institutionen im Zeitalter des Barocks in den böhmischen Ländern’, Beiträge zur Musikgeschichte Osteuropas, ed. E. Arro (Wiesbaden, 1977), 334–68
K.W. Niemoller: ‘Musikinstrumente in der Prager Kunstkammer Kaiser Rudolfs II. um 1600’, Festschrift Heinz Becker, ed. J. Schläder and R. Quandt (Laaber, 1982), 332–41
J. Berkovec: ‘Kvodlibetní disputace o hudbě na pražské univerzité na počátku 15. století’ [Disputationes de quodlibet concerning music at the University of Prague at the beginning of the 15th century], HV, xxiv (1987), 137–41
J. Snižková: ‘Les plus anciennes sources d'enregistrements notés a Prague’, Musica antiqua, viii (1988), 909–36
J. Berkovec: Musicalia v pražském periodickém tisku 18. století: vyběr aktuálních zpráv o hudbě [Musicalia issued in Prague periodicals during the 18th century: selected contemporary reports on music] (Prague, 1989)
R. Lindell: ‘Hudební život na dvoře Rudolfa II’ [Musical life at the court of Rudolf II], HV, xxvi (1989), 99–111
H. Krones: ‘Muzik und Humanismus im Prag Kaiser Rudolphs II: am Beispiel der Moralia von Jacobus Gallus’, ÖMz, xlvi (1991), 459–70
F. Černý, ed.: Divadlo v Kotcích [The theatre in Kotce] (Prague, 1992)
D.E. Freeman: The Opera Theater of Count Franz Anton Sporck in Prague (Stuyvesant, NY, 1992)
J. Stockigt, ed.: ‘Zpráva o návštěvě císaře Karla VI, a chotí v Klementinu v roce 1723’ [A report of the visit of the Emperor Karl VI and his consort in the Klementium 1723], HV, xxix (1992), 351–9
J. Fukač: ‘Die Oratorienaufführungen bei den Prager Kreuzherren mit dem roten Stern als Typ lokaler Musikfeste’, SPFFBU, xxix (1994), 69–89
J. Pánek: ‘Phasma Dionysiacum und die manieristischen Festlichkeiten auf der Prager Burg im Jahre 1617: der zeitliche und typologische Rahmen’, SPFFBU, xxix (1994), 33–44
L. Tomsí: Pražské barokní varhany (Dispozice pražských varhan z doby baroka)/Prager Barockorgeln (Prager Orgeldispositionen aus der Barockzeit) (Bonn, 1994)
J. Branberger: Konservatoř hudby v Praze [The Prague Conservatory of Music] (Prague, 1911; Ger. trans., 1911)
Z. Nejedlý: Opera Národního divadla [Opera at the National Theatre] (Prague, 1935–6; 2/1949 as Dějiny opery Národního divadla [A history of opera at the National Theatre])
J. Bartoš: Prozatímní divadlo a jeho opera [The Provisional Theatre and its opera] (Prague, 1938)
L. Novák: Opera a balet staré gardy Národního divadla [Opera and ballet of the old guard at the National Theatre] (Prague, 1938)
R. Rosenheim: Die Geschichte des deutschen Bühnen in Prag, 1883–1918: mit einem Rückblick, 1783–1883 (Prague, 1938)
Z. Němec: Weberova pražská léta [Weber’s years in Prague] (Prague, 1944)
L. Pacák: Opereta: dějiny pražských operetních divadel [Operetta: a history of Prague operetta theatres] (Prague, 1946)
V.H. Jarka: Kritické dílo Bedřicha Smetany 1858–1865 [Smetana’s works of criticism] (Prague, 1948) [incl. Smetana’s newspaper reviews]
A. Javorin: Pražské arény: lidová divadla pražská v minulém století [Prague arenas: Prague folk theatres in the last century] (Prague, 1958)
Šedesát let pěveckého spolku Typografia [60 years of the choral society Typografia] (Prague, 1960)
V. Holzknecht, ed.: 150 let Pražské konservatoře [150 years of the Prague Conservatory] (Prague, 1961)
J. Tomková, ed.: Padesát let Pěveckého sdružení pražských učitelek 1912–1962 [50 years of the choral society of Prague Women Teachers] (Prague, 1962)
F. Pala: Opera Národního divadla v období Otakara Ostrčila [Opera at the National Theatre under Ostrčil] (Prague, 1962–70)
V. Holzknecht: Česká filharmonie: příběh orchestru [The Czech Philharmonic: story of the orchestra] (Prague, 1963)
P. Keclík, ed.: Kniha o Národním divadle 1883–1963 [Book about the National Theatre 1883–1963] (Prague, 1964)
J. Němeček: ‘Komentář k premiérám Wagnerových oper na Národním divadle’ [A commentary on the premičres of Wagner’s operas at the National Theatre], HV, iii (1966), 676–96
T. Volek: ‘Obrozenský zájem o českou hudební minulost’ [The national revivalists’ interest in the Czech musical past], HV, iii (1966), 599–606
L. Hrdý: ‘Pražské koncerty a statistika 1925–39’ [Prague concert statistics, 1925–39], HV, iv (1967), 339–53
V. Lébl: ‘Český hudební život 1890–1918’ [Czech musical life, 1890–1918], HV, iv (1967), 192–242
Z. Pilková: ‘Populární koncerty Umělecké besedy v letech 1886–1903’ [The popular concerts of the Umělecká Beseda in the years 1886–1903], HV, v (1968), 210–29
J. Němeček: Opera Národního divadla v období Karla Kovařovice 1900–1920 [Opera at the National Theatre under Kovařovic] (Prague, 1968–9)
Z. Pilková: ‘Hudební úterky Umělecké besedy v letech 1935–1951’ [The Musical Tuesdays of the Artistic Society 1935–51], Příspěvky k dějinám české hudby, no.1 (1971), 67–172
Z. Pilková: ‘K dějinám českých reprodukčních těles v 19. století’ [Concerning the history of Czech concert life in the 19th century], HV, x (1973), 146–50
M. Tarantová: ‘Altprager musikalische Salons im Vormärz’, SPFFBU, H8 (1973), 145–59
M. Laiske: Pražská dramaturgie: česká divadelní představení do otevření Prozatímního divadla [Prague dramaturgy: Czech theatrical performances up to the opening of the Provincial Theatre] (Prague, 1974)
V. Lébl: ‘Gustav Mahler als Kappelmeister des Deutschen Landestheaters in Prag’, HV, xii (1975), 351–71
M. Kuna: Čajkovskij a Praha [Tchaikovsky and Prague] (Prague, 1980)
J. Ludvová and V. Lébl: ‘Pražské orchestrální koncerty v letech 1860–95’ [Prague orchestral concerts in the years 1860–95], HV, xvii (1980), 99–137
F. Černý: Tylovo divadlo: průvodce jeho historií a budovou [The Tyl Theatre: a guide to its history and the building] (Prague, 1983)
J. Černý and others: ‘Hudba v českých dějinách: od středověku do nové doby’ [Music in the Czech history from the medieval era till the present] (Prague, 1983, enlarged 2/1989)
H. Konečná, ed.: Soupis repertoáru Národního divadla v Praze 1881–1983 [Catalogue of the repertory of the National Theatre in Prague, 1881–1983] (Prague, 1983) [with suppl. to 1993, ed. Z. Benešová (Prague, 1993)]
E. Kopecký: Pěvci Národního divadla [Singers in the National Theatre] (Prague, 1983)
J. Ludvová: ‘Německý hudební život v Praze 1880–1939’ [German music life in Prague, 1880–1939], Uměnovědné studie, iv (1983), 53–173
Smetanovo divadlo: průvodce historií divadla a jeho budovami, 1883–1983 [The Smetana Theatre: a guide to the history of the theatre and its buildings] (Prague, 1983)
I. Adler and B. Schultz-Raanan: ‘Das Georg-Alter-Archiv: dokumente zur Geschichte des Vereins für musikalische Privataufführungen in Prag und des Kolisch-Quartetts’ [The Georg-Alter-Archiv: documents pertaining to the Verein für Musikalischen Privataufführungen in Prague and the Kolisch Quartet], Ars iocundissima: Festschrift für Kurt Dorfmüller, ed. H. Leuchtmann and R. Münster (Tutzing, 1984), 1–13
L. Kubátová: Z hudebního života v Praze ve 2. polovině 19. století [From the musical life in Prague in the second half of the 19th century] (Prague, 1984)
P. Zapletal: Padesát let Symfonického orchestru hlavního města Prahy FOK [50 years of the symphony orchestra of the capital city Prague FOK] (Prague, 1984)
J. Šeda: Pražští madrigalisté [The Prague Madrigalists] (Prague, 1987)
V. Procházka and others, eds.: Národní divadlo a jeho předchůdci: Slovník umělců divadel Vlasteneckého, Stavovského, a Prozatímního a Národního [The National Theatre and its predecessors: a lexicon of artists of the Patriotic, Estates, Provisional and National theatres in Prague] (Prague, 1988)
I. Horová: ‘Operní konkursy, vypsané v souvislosti s otevřením Národního Divadla v Praze’ [The opera competitions held for the opening of the National Theatre in Prague], HV, xxvii (1990), 152–9
J. Smaczny: ‘Daily Repertoire of the Provisional Theatre Opera in Prague: Chronological List’, MMC, xxxiv (1994), 9–139
J. Ludvová: Gustav Mahler a Praha/Gustav Mahler und Prag (Prague, 1996) [incl. E. Steinhard: ‘Gustav Mahler und Prag [1921]’, 41–2]