Tomášek, Václav Jan Křtitel (EN)

Tomášek, Tomaschek, Václav Jan Křtitel, Wenzel Johann, *17 April 1774 Žd’árec u Skutče (now Skuteč, near Chrudimia), †3 April 1850 Prague, Czech composer and teacher. He was the youngest of 13 children of a poor linen maker. From 1783, he learned to play the violin and sing with P.J. Wolf in Chrudim; in 1787, he became a chorister in the Minorite church in Igława. In 1790, he entered the gymnasium in Prague; in the same year, he heard Mozart’s Don Giovanni there, which made a great impression on him and prompted him to attempt composition. He studied the theoretical treatises of J.J. Fuxa, J.Ph. Kirnberger, J. Mattheson, F.W. Marpurg and D.G. Türk, benefited from the advice of G.J. Vogler and J.N. Forkel, who were staying in Prague around 1801. He gave piano, singing and music theory lessons in the homes of the Prague aristocracy. At the same time, from 1794, he listened to lectures by, among others, in logic, physics, metaphysics, anatomy and surgery at the University of Charles in Prague; in 1797–99, he studied law there and in 1805, as a renowned teacher and composer, he prepared for a legal career. Tomášek’s fate was controlled by his student, Count Jiří F. Buquoy, who in 1806 employed him as a court composer and music teacher. Until 1824, Tomášek stayed in the residences of Count Buquoy in Nové Hrady, Červeny Hrádek and Prague, from where he left, among others, to Vienna, where he visited Haydn (1808) and met Beethoven twice (1814). He maintained contacts with J.N. Hummel, L. Spohr and C.M. von Weber, and met with J.W. Goethe in Cheb (1822) and Marianske Lazne (1823). In 1824, he married Vilemína Ebert and lived in Lesser Town in Prague, in the house of the publisher of the magazine “Libussa” P.A. Klar, where he opened a music school; however, he did not appear publicly due to depression caused by the crisis of his marriage. After the death of his wife (1836), he organised Monday evening concerts, combined with discussions about art, in which his students, representatives of the Czech intellectual elite, such as J.K. Chmelenský, V. Hanka, F. Palacký, publishers P.A. Klar and R. Glaser and musicians visiting Prague: H. Berlioz, O. Bull, N. Paganini, C. Schumann and R. Wagner. In June 1844, Tomášek was visited by W. Każyński, who noted his views on the art of composition. Tomášek also wrote musical correspondence to R. Glaser’s magazine “Ost und West,” and in 1845-50, he published his autobiography in “Libussy.”

Tomášek became famous as an outstanding teacher and erudite, adhering to classical principles of composition and seeing the ideal in Mozart’s music. Called the “musical pope of Prague,” he formulated his views in writing only in 1845–50 in Selbstbiographie (it also contains comments, among others, on Beethoven and Goethe and their statements), but they were known earlier from the accounts of visiting musicians and students, which included, among others, J.H. Voříšek, J. Kittl, A. Dreyschock, J. Schulhoff and E. Hanslick. Tomášek’s school was intended for advanced students; Bach’s fugues, Beethoven’s sonatas, Tomášek’s own compositions, and in later years Chopin’s etudes and works by S. Thalberg and Liszt were studied there. Tomášek devoted most of his attention to learning harmony, counterpoint and fugue. According to W. Każyński (1846), when learning composition he placed emphasis on the “moral” side of the work, by which he understood the maturity of musical ideas and their logical connection with the intended character of the piece, and on the external side, i.e. the purity and correctness of the language, as well as knowledge of the instrumentation and orchestral effects.

Tomášek’s work until around 1805 (symphonies, concertos, quartets, sonatas) is in the late classical style and refers to Mozart’s music, just like his later vocal-instrumental works (Requiem, Missa solemnis). Tomášek’s most important works were written during his stay at the court of Count Buquoy (1806–24). These include songs and single-part piano pieces (eclogues, dithyrambs, rhapsodies). As a creator of songs, Tomášek gained fame with the publication of the ballad Lenore with lyrics by G.A. Bürger (1805). He used only high-quality texts by German poets such as H. Heine, L. Hölty, Ch.F. Gellert, J.W. Goethe, F.G. Klopstock, F. Rückert, and F. Schiller. His Gedichte to Goethe’s words (1815) was highly appreciated by the poet himself. They are characterised by flawless prosody and close connection with the structure of the text, and thus an unconventional, compact form. Episodes with a fluid, diatonic melody, corresponding to descriptions of the outside world, often contrast with declamatory fragments falling on reflective parts of the text. In some songs (Der Fischer, Rastlose Liebe, Am Flusse, Schäfers Klagelied), chromaticism, phrase breaks and expressive accompaniment evoke a romantic mood. Tomášek’s songs to Czech words, written for patriotic reasons, played a smaller role due to the rules of Czech prosody that had not yet been established; what is important is the collection Starožitné písně Královédvorského rukopisů (1823) for a text that is apocryphal by V. Hanka.

The sources of inspiration for his single-movement piano pieces were revealed by Tomášek at the end of his life in Selbstbiographie. They were intended to be a poetic counterweight to mass-produced, primitive compositions, entering the territory of genres abandoned by classicism. Tomášek explained the origins of the eclogues by imagining the life of shepherds – simple, but dependent on changes of fate; accordingly, these are short, monothematic pieces with a transparent texture and an evolutionary progression with elements of sonata technique (contrast of tonal planes, transformation of material). Sometimes they include dance rhythms (polka, mazurka, furiant). The melodic charm of the eclogues, the subtle play of accents and the naturalness of the musical flow evoke associations with the impromptus style of Schubert and even Dvořák’s Slavic Dances. Rhapsodies and dithyrambs are broader, multi-threaded and texturally richer than eclogues. Rhapsodies were, according to Tomášek works in which – looking for a way to “combine the expression of tenderness with the expression of strength and courage” – he referred to associations with Homer’s Iliad and gave them a narrative form. In 3 Dithyrambs Op. 65, he tried to convey subsequent categories of expression, patterns for which he found in the ideas of ancient Rome (severity, roughness) and Greece (subtlety, grace).

Tomášek’s compositions became forgotten in the second half of the 19^th century. His songs are only now returning to the repertoire, while the eclogues, rhapsodies and dithyrambs, considered by W. Kahl (1921) as prototypes of the romantic piano miniature, have long been mentioned in the context of their affiliation with Schubert’s works. They constitute a completely separate group of compositions in which – as in the case of many of Beethoven’s works – in addition to typically classical features, there are new elements, which cannot always be clearly described as romantic. Tomášek’s reference to antiquity, typical of the classicising trends of modern art, is free from sentimental, 18^th-century idealization. In Tomášek’s approach, Arcadian threads expose the individual fates of imagined individuals (eclogues). Tomášek experimented within the classical aesthetics of expression, combining various categories and inventing new ones. He completely rejected classical genres and, while in eclogues he still retained traditional formal procedures, in rhapsodies and dithyrambs he used means strictly consistent with the intended expressive plan. There are hints of the romantic style in his works (e.g. in the “Mendelssohnian” eclogue Allegro agitato Op. 66 No. 6 or Allegro capriccioso di bravura Op. 84 No. 1 with chromatic ornamentation of the brillante type in the colour function, stylistically close to Chopin’s early works); however, these are isolated cases. Tomášek’s work can be considered a completely original phenomenon, parallel to Beethoven’s work and constituting a valuable context for it.

Literature: M. Postler V.J. Tomášek Bibliografie, Prague 1960; V.J.K. Tomášek Selbstbiographie, “Libussa” IV–IX, 1845–50, Czech translation Vlastní životopis V.J. Tomášek, published by Z. Němec, Prague 1941; W. Każyński Notatki z podróży muzykalnej po Niemczech odbytej w roku 1844, Saint Petersburg 1846, 2^nd ed. Kraków 1957; E. Hanslick Aus meinem Leben, 2 vol., Berlin 1894, 4^th ed. 1911; W. Kahl Das lyrische Klavierstück Schuberts und seiner Vorgänger seit 1810, “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft” III, 1921; J. Patera Hudební dílo V.J. Tomášek, Prague 1925; M. Tarantová V.J. Tomášek, Prague 1946; Th. Straková Tomáškovy písně na Goethovy texty and V.J. Tomášek a jeho klavírní eklogy, “Časopis Moravského Muzea” XL, 1955 and XLV, 1960; E. Holubová V.J. Tomášeks Oper “Seraphine” als Quelle und Werk and V. Kyas Die harmonische Struktur von Tomášeks lyrischen Klavierstücken, “Sborník Prací Filosofické Fakulty Brněnské University” issue 8,1973; M. Vysloužilová V.J. Tomášeks Lieder zu tschechischen Texten and J. Vysloužil V.J.K. Tomášeks Stellung in der tschechischen Musikkultur, “Sborník Prací Filosofické Fakulty Brněnské University” issue 9, 1974 and issue 10, 1975; E. Mikanová V.J. Tomášek v kritikach Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, in: Česká hudba světu – svět české hudbě, ed. J. Bajer, Prague 1974; V. Kyas Srovnání lyrických klavírních kusů V.J. Tomášek, J.H. Voříška a F. Schuberta, “Časopis Moravského Muzea” LXII, 1977; J. Fukač V.J. Tomášek a geneze kritického myšlení, “Opus Musicum” XI, 1979; R. Pečman Tendenz zur Klassik. Betrachtungen über V.J. Tomášek, “Sborník Prací Filosofické Fakulty Brněnské University” issue 27–28, 1992–93.