The Hussites (Czech: Husité or Kališníci; "Chalice People") were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415), who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. This predominantly religious movement was propelled by social issues and strengthened Czech national awareness.

After the Council of Constance lured Jan Hus in with a letter of indemnity. He appeared before the Council, found guilty of heresy, and put to death at the stake 6 July 1415,^[1] the Hussites fought a series of wars (1420–1434) for their religious and political cause.

Among present-day Christians, Hussite traditions are represented in the Moravian, Unity of the Brethren, and the refounded Czechoslovak Hussite churches.^[2]

Impact of Hus' death on Bohemia[link]

Recreation of Hussite shield from an original in the Museum of Prague

Hussite theologians dispute in the presence of King Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland

The arrest of Hus in 1414 caused considerable resentment in Czech lands. The authorities of both countries appealed urgently and repeatedly to King Sigismund to release Jan Hus (John Huss).

When news of his death at the Council of Constance in 1415 arrived, disturbances broke out, directed primarily against the clergy, and especially against the monks. Even the Archbishop narrowly escaped from the effects of this popular anger. The treatment of Huss was felt to be a disgrace inflicted upon the whole country, and his death was seen as a criminal act. King Wenceslaus, prompted by his grudge against Sigismund, at first gave free vent to his indignation at the course of events in Constance; and his wife openly favored the friends of Huss. Avowed Hussites stood at the head of the government.

A league was formed by certain lords^[who?], who pledged themselves to protect the free preaching of the Gospel upon all their possessions and estates, and to obey the power of the Bishops only where their orders accorded with the injunctions of the Bible, with the university as arbiter of any disputed points. The entire Hussite nobility joined the league. Other than verbally protest the council's treatment of Hus, there was little evidence of any actions taken by the nobility until 1417. At that point several of the lesser nobility and some barons, signatories of the 1415 protest letter, removed Romanist priests from their parishes, replacing them with priests willing to give communion in both wine and bread. The chalice of wine became the central identifying symbol of the Hussite movement.^[3] If the king had joined, its resolutions would have received the sanction of the law; but he refused, and approached the newly formed Roman Catholic League of lords, whose members pledged themselves to support the king, the Catholic Church, and the Council. The prospect of a civil war began to emerge.

Pope Martin V, who while still Cardinal Otto of Colonna, had attacked Huss with relentless severity, energetically resumed the battle against Huss's teaching after the enactments of the Council of Constance, seeking to eradicate completely the doctrine of Huss,^{[citation needed]} for which purpose the co-operation of King Wenceslaus had to be obtained; in 1418, Sigismund succeeded in winning his brother over to the standpoint of the council by pointing out the inevitability of a religious war if the heretics in Bohemia found further protection.^{[citation needed]} Hussite statesmen and army leaders had to leave the country, and Roman Catholic priests were reinstated. These measures caused a general commotion which hastened the death of King Wenceslaus by a paralytic stroke in 1419.^{[citation needed]} His heir was Sigismund.

The parties of the Bohemian Hussites[link]

Hussism organised itself during the years 1415–1419. From the beginning, there formed two parties.

The moderate party, who followed Huss more closely, sought to conduct reform while leaving the whole hierarchical and liturgical order of the Church untouched.

The more radical party identified itself more boldly with the doctrines of John Wycliffe, sharing his passionate hatred of the monastic clergy, and his desire to return the Church to its supposed condition during the time of the apostles. This required the removal of the existing hierarchy and the secularisation of ecclesiastical possessions. The radicals preached the "sufficientia legis Christi"—the divine law (i.e. the Bible) is the sole rule and canon for human society, not only in the church, but also in political and civil matters. They rejected therefore, as early as 1416, everything that they believed had no basis in the Bible, such as the veneration of saints and images, fasts, superfluous holidays, the oath, intercession for the dead, auricular Confession, indulgences, the sacraments of Confirmation and the Anointing of the Sick; they admitted laymen and women to the preacher's office, and chose their own priests. But above all they clung to Wycliffe's doctrine of the Lord's Supper, denying transubstantiation, and this is the principal point by which they are distinguished from the moderate party.

The Four Articles of Prague[link]

The programme of the more conservative Hussites is contained in the Four Articles of Prague, which were agreed upon in July 1420, and promulgated in the Latin, Czech, and German languages. The full text is about two pages long, but they are often summarized as:

1. Freedom to preach the Word of God.
2. Celebration of the Lord's Supper in both kinds (bread and wine to priests and laity alike).
3. No secular power for the clergy.
4. Punishment for the mortal sins.

Calixtines (or Utraquists) and Taborites[link]

The views of the moderate Hussites were widely represented at the university and among the citizens of Prague; they were therefore called the Prague Party, but also Calixtines (Latin calix chalice) or Utraquists (Latin utraque both), because they emphasized the second article of Prague, and the chalice became their emblem.

The radicals had their gathering-places all around the country. Their first armed assault fell on the small town of Ústí, on the river Lužnice, south of Prague (today's Sezimovo Ústí). However, as the place did not prove to be defensible, they settled in the remains of an older town upon a hill not far away and founded a new town, which they named Tábor (after the traditional name of the mountain on which Jesus was expected to return; see Mark 13); hence they were called Taborites. They comprised the essential force of the radical Hussites. Their aim was to destroy the enemies of the law of God, and to defend his kingdom (which had been expected to come in a short time) by the sword. Their end-of-world visions did not come true. In order to preserve their settlement and spread their ideology, they waged bloody wars; in the beginning they observed a strict regime, inflicting the severest punishment equally for murder, as for less severe faults as adultery, perjury and usury, and also tried to apply rigid Biblical standards to the social order of the time. The Taborites usually had the support of the Orebites (later called Orphans), an eastern Bohemian sect of Hussitism based in Hradec Králové.

The Hussite Wars[link]

The news of the death of King Wenceslaus in 1419 produced a great commotion among the people of Prague. A revolution swept over the country: churches and monasteries were destroyed, and church property was seized by the Hussite nobility. Sigismund could get possession of his kingdom only by force of arms. Pope Martin V called upon Catholics of the West to take up arms against the Hussites, and there followed twelve years of warfare.

The Hussites initially campaigned defensively, but after 1427, they assumed the offensive. Apart from their religious aims, they fought for the national interests of the Czechs. The moderate and radical parties were united and they not only repelled the attacks of the army of crusaders, but crossed the borders into neighboring countries. On March 23, 1430, Joan of Arc dictated a letter^[4] that threatened to lead a crusading army against the Hussites unless they returned to the Catholic faith, but her capture by English and Burgundian troops two months later would keep her from carrying out this threat.

The Council of Basel and Compacta of Prague[link]

Eventually, the opponents of the Hussites found themselves forced to consider an amicable settlement. They invited a Bohemian embassy to appear at the Council of Basel. The discussions began on 10 January 1432, centering chiefly on the four articles of Prague. No agreement emerged. After repeated negotiations between the Basel Council and Bohemia, a Bohemian-Moravian state assembly in Prague accepted the "Compacta" of Prague on 30 November 1433. The agreement granted communion in both kinds to all who desired it, but with the understanding that Christ was entirely present in each kind. Free preaching was granted conditionally: the Church hierarchy had to approve and place priests, and the power of the bishop must be considered. The article which prohibited the secular power of the clergy was almost reversed.

The Taborites refused to conform. The Calixtines united with the Roman Catholics and destroyed the Taborites at the Battle of Lipany on (30 May 1434). From that time, the Taborites lost their importance, though the Hussite movement would continue in Poland for another five years, until the Royalist forces of Poland defeated the Polish Hussites at the Battle of Grotniki. The state assembly of Jihlava in 1436 confirmed the "Compacta" and gave them the sanction of law. This accomplished the reconciliation of Bohemia with Rome and the Western Church, and at last Sigismund obtained possession of the Bohemian crown. His reactionary measures caused a ferment in the whole country, but he died in 1437. The state assembly in Prague rejected Wyclif's doctrine of the Lord's Supper, which was obnoxious to the Utraquists, as heresy in 1444. Most of the Taborites now went over to the party of the Utraquists; the rest joined the "Brothers of the Law of Christ" (Latin: "Unitas Fratrum") (see Unity of the Brethren; also Bohemian Brethren and Moravian Church).

Reorganisation of the Hussites[link]

The Utraquists had retained hardly anything of the doctrines of Huss except Communion in both kinds. In 1462, Pope Pius II declared the "Compacta" null and void, prohibited communion in both kinds, and acknowledged King George of Podebrady as king on condition that he would promise an unconditional harmony with the Roman Church. This he refused, but his successor, King Vladislaus II, favored the Roman Catholics and proceeded against some zealous clergymen of the Calixtines. The troubles of the Utraquists increased from year to year. In 1485, at the Diet of Kutná Hora, an agreement was made between the Roman Catholics and Utraquists which lasted for thirty-one years. It was only later, at the diet of 1512, that the equal rights of both religions were permanently established. Luther's appearance was hailed by the Utraquist clergy, and Martin Luther himself was astonished to find so many points of agreement between the doctrines of Huss and his own. But not all Utraquists approved of the German Reformation; a schism arose among them, and many returned to the Roman doctrine, while other elements had organised the "Unitas Fratrum" already in 1457.

Under Emperor Maximilian II, the Bohemian state assembly established the "Confessio Bohemica," upon which Lutherans, Reformed, and Bohemian Brethren agreed. From that time forward Hussitism began to die out. After the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620 the Roman Catholic Faith was re-established with vigour which fundamentally changed the religious conditions of Bohemia and Moravia.

Leaders and members of Unitas Fratrum were forced to choose to either leave the many and varied southeastern principalities of what was the Holy Roman Empire (mainly Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia and parts of Germany and its many states), or to practice their beliefs secretly. As a result, members were forced underground and dispersed across northwestern Europe. The largest remaining communities of the Brethren were located in Lissa (Leszno) in Poland, which had historically strong ties with the Czechs, and in small, isolated groups in Moravia. Some, among them Jan Amos Comenius, fled to western Europe, mainly the Low Countries. A settlement of hussites in Herrnhut, Germany, in 1727 caused the emergence of the Moravian Church.

Today, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church claims to be the modern successor of the Hussite tradition.^[2]

See also[link]

• Hussite Bible
• Pavel Kravař

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Howard Kaminsky. "A History of the Hussite Revolution," University of California Press, 1967. (English)
• Ondřej, Brodu, "Traktát mistra Ondřeje z Brodu o původu husitů" (Latin: "Visiones Ioannis, archiepiscopi Pragensis, et earundem explicaciones, alias Tractatus de origine Hussitarum"), Muzem husitského revolučního hnutí, Tábor, 1980, OCLC 28333729 in (Latin) with introduction in (Czech)
• Mathies, Christiane, "Kurfürstenbund und Königtum in der Zeit der Hussitenkriege: die kurfürstliche Reichspolitik gegen Sigmund im Kraftzentrum Mittelrhein," Selbstverlag der Gesellschaft für Mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, Mainz, 1978, OCLC 05410832 in (German)
• Bezold, Friedrich von, "König Sigmund und die Reichskriege gegen die Husiten," G. Olms, Hildesheim, 1978, ISBN 3-487-05967-3 in (German)
• Denis, Ernest, "Huss et la Guerre des Hussites," AMS Press, New York, 1978, ISBN 0-404-16126-X in (French)
• Macek, Josef, "Jean Huss et les Traditions Hussites: XVe-XIXe siècles," Plon, Paris, 1973, OCLC 905875 in (French) This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "^{article name needed}". New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. 
• Klassen, John, "Hus, the Hussites, and Bohemia" in New Cambridge Medieval History (Cambridge, 1998)

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (August 2010)

• Hussite Museum, Tabor
• Hussites - God's warriors, in (Czech)
• Notes on the Hussite movement and links to primary sources, from Kenyon college
• The Hussite Era, from Radio Prague's History Online feature
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Hussites
• Hussite War-wagons, presenting detailed information about the Hussites' most characteristic tactic, by Matthew Haywood
• Letter to the Hussites dictated by Joan of Arc on March 23, 1430, translated by Allen Williamson.
• Short article on the Hussites, from the University of Calgary's 'The End of Europe's Middle Ages'
• Article on the Tactics of the Hussites
• Texts on Wikisource:
  • Hannah Adams, “Hussites,” A Dictionary of All Religions and Religious Denominations, 1784.
  • "Hussites". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
  •  J. Wilhelm (1913). "Hussites". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 

Antonín Dvořák
Composer Antonín Dvořák
Background information
Birth name	Antonín Leopold Dvořák
Born	(1841-09-08)September 8, 1841 Nelahozeves, Bohemia
Origin	Czech
Died	May 1, 1904(1904-05-01) (aged 62) Prague, Bohemia
Genres	classical, romantic
Occupations	Composer
Instruments	organist, violinist
Years active	1859–1904

Antonín Leopold Dvořák (/ˈdvɔrʒɑːk/ DVOR-zhahk or /dɨˈvɔrʒæk/ di-VOR-zhak; Czech: [ˈantoɲiːn ˈlɛopolt ˈdvor̝aːk] ( listen); September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis".^[1] His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many of other orchestral and vocal-instrumental pieces.

His best-known works include his New World Symphony, the Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, "American" String Quartet, Piano Quintet No 2, the opera Rusalka, Cello Concerto in B minor and choral works Stabat Mater, Requiem and Te Deum. Today, he is considered to be one of the most important composers of the Romantic era.

Early career[link]

Antonín Dvořák in 1868

Dvořák was born on September 8, 1841, in the Bohemian village of Nelahozeves, near Prague (then part of Bohemia in the Austrian Empire, now Czech Republic), where he spent most of his life. He was baptized as a Roman Catholic in the church of St. Andrew in the village. Dvořák's years in Nelahozeves nurtured the strong Christian faith and love for his Bohemian heritage that so strongly influenced his music.^[2] His father, František Dvořák (1814–1894), was an innkeeper, professional player of the zither, and a butcher. Although his father wanted him to be a butcher as well, Dvořák pursued a career in music. He received his earliest musical education at the village school, which he entered in 1847, aged six. From 1857 to 1859^[3] he studied music in Prague's only organ school, and gradually developed into an accomplished player of the violin and the viola. He wrote his first string quartet when he was 20 years old, two years after graduating.

By the time he was 18 years old, Dvořák was a full-time musician. Throughout the 1860s he played viola in the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra, which from 1866 was conducted by Bedřich Smetana. He was making about $7.50 a month. The constant need to supplement his income pushed him to give piano lessons. It was through these piano lessons that he met his wife. He originally fell in love with his pupil, Josefína Čermáková, for whom he composed "Cypress Trees". However, she never returned his love and ended up marrying another man. In 1873 Dvořák married Josefina's younger sister, Anna. They had nine children together, three of whom died in infancy.

After he married, Dvořák left the National Theatre Orchestra, in which he had been playing for 11 years, and secured the job of organist at St. Adalbert’s Church in Prague. This provided him with financial security, higher social status, and enough free time to focus on composing. Dvořák composed his second string quintet in 1875, the same year that his first son was born. It was during this year that he produced a multitude of works, including his 5th Symphony, String Quintet No. 2, Piano Trio No. 1 and Serenade for Strings in E.

In 1877, the critic Eduard Hanslick informed him that his music had attracted the attention of the famous Johannes Brahms, whom Dvořák admired greatly. Brahms had a huge influence over Dvořák’s work, especially as the two later became friends. Brahms contacted the musical publisher Simrock, one of the major European publishers. Published in 1878, the above mentioned works were an immediate success. Dvořák's Stabat Mater (1880) was performed abroad, and after a successful performance in London in 1883, Dvořák was invited to visit England where he appeared to great acclaim in 1884. His Symphony No. 7 was written for London; it premiered there in 1885. Dvořák visited England nine times in total,^[3] often conducting his own works there. In 1887, Hans Richter presented the Symphonic Variations in London and Vienna to great acclaim (they had been written ten years earlier and Dvořák had allowed them to languish after initial disinterest from his publishers).

In 1890, influenced by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Dvořák also visited Russia, and conducted the orchestras in Moscow and in St. Petersburg.^[3] In 1891, Dvořák received an honorary degree from the University of Cambridge, and was offered a position at the Prague Conservatory as professor of composition and instrumentation. At first he refused the offer, but then later accepted; this change of mind was seemingly a result of a quarrel with his publisher, Simrock, over payment for his Eighth Symphony. His Requiem premiered later that year in Birmingham at the Triennial Music Festival.

United States (1892–1895)[link]

Statue of Dvořák in Stuyvesant Square, Manhattan near the site of his house

From 1892 to 1895, Dvořák was the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City, at a then-staggering $15,000 annual salary. The Conservatory had been founded by a wealthy and philanthropic socialite, Jeannette Thurber; it was located at 126–128 East 17th Street,^[4][5] but was demolished in 1911 and replaced by what is today a high school.

Dvořák’s main goal in America was to discover “American Music” and engage in it, much as he had used Czech folk idioms within his music. Shortly after his arrival in America in 1892, Dvořák wrote a series of newspaper articles reflecting on the state of American music. He supported the concept that African-American and Native American music should be used as a foundation for the growth of American music. He felt that through the music of Native Americans and African-Americans, Americans would find their own national style of music.^[6] Here Dvořák met with Harry Burleigh, his pupil at the time and one of the earliest African-American composers. Burleigh introduced Dvořák to traditional American spirituals at Dvořák's request.^[7]

In the winter and spring of 1893, while in New York, Dvořák wrote Symphony No.9, "From the New World". On December 15, 1893, Henry Edward Krehbiel wrote a complete analysis in the New York Daily Tribune regarding Dvořák's symphony. He spent the summer of 1893 with his family in the Czech-speaking community of Spillville, Iowa, to which some of his cousins had earlier immigrated. While there he composed the String Quartet in F (the "American"), and the String Quintet in E flat, as well as a Sonatina for violin and piano. He also conducted a performance of his Eighth Symphony at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago that same year.

Over the course of three months in 1895, Dvořák wrote his Cello Concerto in B minor. However, problems with Mrs. Thurber about his salary, together with increasing recognition in Europe – he had been made an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna – and a remarkable amount of homesickness made him decide to return to Bohemia. He informed Mrs. Thurber, who still owed him his salary, that he was leaving. Dvořák and his wife left New York before the end of the spring term with no intention of returning.

Dvořák's New York home was located at 327 East 17th Street, near the intersection of what is today called Perlman Place.^[8] It was in this house that both the B minor Cello Concerto and the New World Symphony were written within a few short years. Despite protests, from Czech President Václav Havel amongst others, who wanted the house preserved as a historical site, it was demolished in 1991 to make room for a Beth Israel Medical Center residence for people with AIDS.^[9][10][11] To honor Dvořák, however, a statue of him was erected in nearby Stuyvesant Square.^[5][12]

Later career[link]

Dvořák's funeral on May 5, 1904

After returning home from America, Dvořák at first spent most of his time resting and spending time with his family in the country^{[clarification needed]}. During his final years, Dvořák concentrated on composing opera and chamber music. In 1896 he visited London for the last time to hear the premiere of his Cello Concerto in B minor.

In 1897 Dvořák's daughter married his student, the composer Josef Suk. Dvořák was appointed a member of the jury for the Viennese Artist’s Stipendium, and later was honored with a medal. Dvořák succeeded Antonín Bennewitz as director of the Conservatory in Prague in November 1901 until his death.^[13] His 60th birthday was celebrated as a national event, with organized concerts and a banquet in his honor.

Antonín Dvořák died from heart failure on May 1, 1904, following five weeks of illness. His funeral was on May 5. He is interred in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague, under his bust by Czech sculptor Ladislav Šaloun.

He left many unfinished works, including the early Cello Concerto in A major (see Concerti below).

Style[link]

Dvořák was passionate about his homeland. Many of his compositions, such as the Slavonic Dances and large collection of songs, were directly inspired by Czech traditional music. His major works reflect his heritage and the love he had for his native land. Dvořák followed in the footsteps of Bedřich Smetana, the composer who created a Czech musical style.

While Dvořák is well known for his lively national melodies, he also had a prominent role to play in the development of American music, as his New World Symphony and other works attest. The second half of the nineteenth century saw a blossoming of national styles, as countries looked to their cultural roots to celebrate their heritage through music that evoked these themes and folk melodies. Dvořák supported Cecil Sharp in England in his efforts to collect and encourage English Folk Music as a conduit for national renewal. He found the inspiration he needed for American music in the melodies of Native and African Americans. In his opinion, these were the melodies that would contribute most heavily to the foundation of an American musical style. Dvořák was introduced to African American spirituals through his friendship with Harry Burleigh, one of his students who later became his personal assistant. Burleigh shared with Dvořák many of the songs his grandfather used to sing to him, and Dvořák encouraged Burleigh to transcribe and perform many of these melodies. Burleigh's performances of these native melodies would later influence musicians like Marian Anderson.

Antonín Dvořák's career in America served as an impetus in the development of an American style of music that influenced future generations. His challenge to American musicians, as well as his American-inspired pieces, served as a model for many composers. Some of these, such as Amy Beach and William Grant Still, took his suggestion to heart and tried to find their own manner of creating an American music. He simply helped in the formation of an American style, a process that would continue through the students he instructed and into the ensuing decades as American music developed its own identity.^[14]

Works[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2012)

	Song to the Moon (Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém) From Rusalka (1901). Performed in German by Czech soprano Emmy Destinn in 1915.
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Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: his nine symphonies generally stick to classical models that Beethoven would have recognised, but he also worked in the newly developed symphonic poem. Many of his works also show the influence of Czech genuine folk music, both in terms of elements such as rhythms and melodic shapes; perhaps the best known examples are the two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs, but we can find echoes of that influence also in his major choral works. His interest in nationalist ideas carried over to his work in the United States. Dvořák also wrote operas (of which the best known is Rusalka); serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble; chamber music (including a number of string quartets and quintets); songs; choral music; and piano music.

Numbering[link]

While a large number of Dvořák's works were given opus numbers, these did not always bear a logical relationship to the order in which they were either written or published. To achieve better sales, some publishers such as Simrock preferred to present budding composers as being well established, by giving some relatively early works much higher opus numbers than their chronological order would merit. In other cases, Dvořák deliberately provided new works with lower opus numbers to be able to sell them outside contract obligations to other publishers.^[15] This way it could happen that the same opus number was given to more than one of Dvořák's works.^[16] In yet other cases, a work was given as many as three different opus numbers by different publishers.

The sequential numbering of his symphonies has also been confused: (a) they were initially numbered by order of publication, not composition; (b) the first four symphonies to be composed were published after the last five; and (c) the last five symphonies were not published in order of composition. This explains why, for example, the New World Symphony was originally published as No. 5, was later known as No. 8, and definitively renumbered as No. 9 in the critical editions published in the 1950s.

All of Dvořák's works were chronologically catalogued by Jarmil Burghauser in Antonín Dvořák. Thematic Catalogue. Bibliography. Survey of Life and Work (Export Artia, Prague, 1960). As an example, in the Burghauser catalogue, the New World Symphony, Op. 95 is B.178.^[17] Scholars today often refer to Dvořák's works by their B numbers (for Burghauser), although references to the traditional opus numbers are still common, in part because the opus numbers have historical continuity with earlier scores and printed programs. The opus numbers are still more likely to appear in printed programs for performances.

Symphonies[link]

The first page of the autograph score of Dvořák's Ninth Symphony

During Dvořák's life, only five of his symphonies were widely known. The first published was his sixth, dedicated to Hans Richter. After Dvořák's death, research uncovered four unpublished symphonies, of which the manuscript of the first had even been lost to the composer himself. This led to an unclear situation in which the New World Symphony has alternately been called the 5th, 8th and 9th. This article uses the modern numbering system, according to the order in which they were written.

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 3, was written when Dvořák was 24 years old. Later subtitled The Bells of Zlonice after a village in Dvořák's native Bohemia, it shows inexperience but also genius with its many attractive qualities. It has many formal similarities with Beethoven's 5th Symphony (for example, the movements follow the same keys: C minor, A flat major, C minor, C major), yet in harmony and instrumentation, Dvořák's First follows the style of Franz Schubert. (Some material from this symphony was reused in the Silhouettes, Opus 8, for piano solo.)

Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 4, still takes Beethoven as a model, though this time in a brighter, more pastoral light.

Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 10, clearly shows the sudden and profound impact of Dvořák's recent acquaintance with the music of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt; there is no scherzo. (A portion of the slow movement was reused in the sixth of the Legends, Opus 59, for piano duet or orchestra.)

Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 13, still shows a strong influence of Wagner, particularly the second movement, which is reminiscent of the overture to Tannhäuser. In contrast, the scherzo is strongly Czech in character.

Symphony No. 5 in F major, Op. 76, and Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60, are largely pastoral in nature, and brush away nearly all the last traces of Wagnerian style. The Sixth, published in 1880, shows a very strong resemblance to the Symphony No. 2 of Brahms, particularly in the outer movements, though this similarity is belied by the third-movement furiant, a vivid Czech dance. This was the symphony that made him internationally known as a symphonic composer.

Symphony No. 7 in D minor of 1885, Op. 70, is sometimes reckoned to exhibit more formal tautness and greater intensity than the more famous 9th Symphony. There is emotional torment in the Seventh that may reflect personal troubles: around this time, Dvořák was struggling to have his Czech operas accepted in Vienna, feeling pressure to write operas in German, and arguing with his publisher. His sketches show that the Seventh cost him much hard work and soul-searching.

Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, is, in contrast with the Seventh, characterized by a warmer and more optimistic tone. Karl Schumann (in booklet notes for a recording of all the symphonies by Rafael Kubelík) compares it to the works of Gustav Mahler. As with the Seventh, some^[who?] feel the Eighth is the best of the symphonies. That some critics^[who?] feel it necessary to promote a symphony as "better than the Ninth" shows how the immense popularity of the Ninth has overshadowed the earlier works.

	Largo – Second Movement from Dvořák's Symphony No.9 Performed by the Virtual Philharmonic Orchestra (Reinhold Behringer) with digital samples (Garritan Personal Orchestra 4).
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Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, may be better known by its subtitle, From the New World, and is also called the New World Symphony. Dvořák wrote it between January and May 1893, while he was in New York. At the time of its first performance, he claimed that he used elements from American music such as spirituals and Native American music in this work, but he later denied this. The first movement has a solo flute passage reminiscent of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", and one of his students later reported that the second movement depicted, programmatically, the sobbing of Hiawatha. The second movement was so reminiscent of a negro spiritual that William Arms Fisher wrote lyrics for it and called it "Goin' Home". Dvořák was interested in indigenous American music, but in an article published in the New York Herald on December 15, 1893, he wrote, "[In the 9th symphony] I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music." Neil Armstrong took a recording of the New World Symphony to the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, the first Moon landing, in 1969,^[18] and in 2009 it was voted the favourite symphony in a poll run by ABC Classic FM in Australia.^[19]

Many conductors have recorded cycles of the symphonies, including Karel Ančerl, István Kertész, Rafael Kubelík, Otmar Suitner, Libor Pešek, Zdeněk Mácal, Václav Neumann, Witold Rowicki, Neeme Järvi and Stephen Gunzenhauser.

Symphonic poems[link]

Dvořák's symphonic poems (tone poems) are among his most original symphonic works.^[20] He wrote five symphonic poems, all in 1896–1897, and they have sequential opus numbers: The Water Goblin, Op. 107; The Noon Witch, Op. 108; The Golden Spinning Wheel, Op. 109; The Wild Dove, Op. 110; and A Hero's Song, Op. 111. The first four of these works are based upon ballads by the Czech folklorist Karel Erben. The Hero's Song is based on a program of Dvořák's devising and is believed to be autobiographical.^[21]

Choral works[link]

The title page of the score of Stabat Mater

To Dvořák's main choral works belong Stabat Mater (the longest extant setting of that work),^[22] Requiem, Te Deum and Mass in D major.

Stabat Mater, Op. 58, is an extensive (cca 90 minutes) vocal-instrumental sacred work for soli (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), choir and orchestra based on the text of an old church hymn with the same name. The first inspiration for creating this piece was the death of the composer's daughter, Josefa. The work was written in several settings, with the final version completed in the end of 1877. The first performance took place on December 23, 1880 at the Jednota umělců hudebních (Association of Musical Artists) in Prague. The composition is usually performed in the Czech Republic during Easter time.

Antonín Dvořák composed the Requiem in 1890, at the beginning of the peak period of his career. The composition does not refer to any specific person or event, it is a reflective work of basic existentialist human questions: of the grief and consolation in death, the meaning of living and dying, as well as hope. Dvořák was a deeply religious man, and this work reflects his faith and spirituality.^[23] The premiere of the opus took place on the October 9, 1891 in Birmingham, which Dvořák himself conducted. Surprisingly, the greatest success was probably its performance in Vienna in 1900, where Dvořák attained utter triumph, in contrast to a previously hostile Viennese audience.

Te Deum, op.103, is a cantata for soprano and baritone solo, choir and orchestra to the Latin text of the famous spiritual hymn "Te Deum laudamus" (God, we laud You). It was composed in 1892 and dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. The composition had been completed before Dvořák moved to America and was commissioned by the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York, Jeanette Thurber in 1891, when the composer accepted a position as director of her school. Originally, the text of the poem by Joseph Rodman Drake, "The American Flag" was to have been used for the opus, which Dvořák had not received in time and instead used the words of the medieval church hymn "Te Deum laudamus" written by Saint Ambrose. The composition was premiered as Dvořák's first concert in New York on October 21, 1892. "Te Deum" is not so monumental and extensive as Requiem and Stabat Mater, yet still encompasses similar deep meditative statements and expressive nobility.

Mass in D major, (originally numbered as op.76, finally as op.86) is a well-concentrated, structured composition originally intended for organ, solo voices and small choir. The work was given its final shape in the year 1892 when, in response to a request from the Novello publishers of London, Dvořák arranged his Mass for a symphony orchestra.^[24]

Other choral works include: The Spectre’s Bride, Saint Ludmila, Hymn of the Czech Peasants, The American Flag, Festival Song and many more.

Concerti[link]

Music critic Harold C. Schonberg expressed common critical opinion when he wrote that Dvořák wrote "an attractive Piano Concerto in G minor with a rather ineffective piano part, a beautiful Violin Concerto in A minor, and a supreme Cello Concerto in B minor".^[25] All the concertos are in the classical three-movement form.

The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 33 was the first of three concertos that Dvořák composed and orchestrated, and it is perhaps the least known of those three. Dvořák composed his piano concerto from late August through September 14, 1876. Its autograph version contains many corrections, erasures, cuts and additions, the bulk of these made in the piano part. The work was premiered in Prague on March 24, 1878, with the orchestra of the Prague Provisional Theatre conducted by Adolf Čech, and the Czech pianist Karel Slavkovský as soloist. As Dvořák wrote: "I see I am unable to write a Concerto for a virtuoso; I must think of other things." Instead, what Dvořák thought of and created was a concerto with remarkable symphonic values in which the piano plays a leading part in the orchestra rather than opposed to it. The Czech pianist and piano teacher Professor Vilém Kurz subsequently wrote an alternative, somewhat more virtuosic piano part for the concerto, which may, depending on the performer's preference, be played either partially or entirely in lieu of Dvořák's part. In 1919 concert pianist Ilona Kurzová played the first performance of the Kurz version, conducted by Václav Talich.

The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 53 was the second of the three concertos that Dvořák composed and orchestrated. He had met the great violinist Joseph Joachim in 1878 and decided to write a concerto for him. He finished it in 1879, but Joachim was skeptical of the work. He objected to Dvořák's abrupt truncation of the first movement's orchestral tutti, and he also did not approve its truncated recapitulation and its leading directly to the slow movement. He never played the piece. The concerto was premiered in 1883 in Prague by the violinist František Ondříček, who also gave its first performances in Vienna and London.

The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 104 was the last composed of Dvořák's concertos. He wrote it in 1894–1895 for his friend the cellist Hanuš Wihan. Wihan and others had asked for a cello concerto for some time, but Dvořák always refused, stating that the cello was a fine orchestral instrument but completely insufficient for a solo concerto.

Dvořák composed the concerto in New York while serving as the Director of the National Conservatory. In 1894 Victor Herbert, who was also teaching at the Conservatory, had written a cello concerto and presented it in a series of concerts. Dvořák attended at least two performances of Victor Herbert's cello concerto and was inspired to fulfill Wihan's request for a cello concerto. Dvořák's concerto received its premiere in London on March 16, 1896, with the English cellist Leo Stern. The work was well received. Brahms said of the work: "Had I known that one could write a cello concerto like this, I would have written one long ago!"

Over thirty years earlier in 1865, Dvořák had composed a Cello Concerto in A major, but with accompaniment by piano rather than orchestra. It is believed Dvořák had intended to orchestrate it, but abandoned it. It was orchestrated by the German composer Günter Raphael between 1925 and 1929, and again by his cataloguer Jarmil Burghauser and was published in this form in 1952 as B.10.

Chamber music[link]

	Romance Op. 75, No. 1 Performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin) and Monica Pavel (piano) Romance Op. 75, No. 3 Performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin) and Monica Pavel (piano)
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Over a period of almost 30 years, Dvořák's output of chamber music was prolific and diverse, composing more than 40 works for ensembles with strings.
In 1860 just after he finished his education at the Organ school, Dvořák composed his String Quintet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 1. Two more would follow, of which the String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 77 from early 1875, is noteworthy for the use of a double bass. It was written for a chamber music competition sponsored by the Umelecká beseda (Artistic Circle), where it was unanimously awarded the prize of five ducats for the "distinction of theme, the technical skill in polyphonic composition, the mastery of form and the knowledge of the instruments" displayed.^[26] The String Quintet No.3 in E♭major "American", Op. 97, with a second viola added, was written near the end of his output for chamber ensemble during his American period in 1893, when he spent a summer holiday in Spillville, Iowa.

Within a year after completing his first string quintet, Dvořák completed his String Quartet No. 1 in A major, Op. 2, the first of his fourteen string quartets. Though his grasp of compositoral skills is better than the previous quintet shows, another problem presents itself: Dvořák has difficulty restraining himself in his musical output, which results in very long compositions.^[27] Many years later Dvořák cut out many of these over abundant measures for a first performance of his first string quartet in 1888. In that same period Dvořák made a list of compositions he had destroyed, which lists two quartets and 2 other quartets. Most probably he did tear up and burn them, but not after the different parts for three string quartets had been copied out. The number of errors in the parts makes it highly unbelievable that he actually had them played. His String Quartet No. 2 in B♭ major, B.17, bears no name nor annotation, but Dvořák's biographer Burghauser assumes it was the first of these three written, and therefore changed its place in the list of Dvořák's first biographer Otakar Šourek, who had placed it as the fourth.^[28] This mix-up seems very academical, but is fed by the annotations of the other two quartets, for Dvořák's String Quartet No. 3 in D major, B.18, bears the name Quartetto II, again no date, and the String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, B.19, was named Quartetto III and finished in December 1870. These three quartets were probably composed between 1868 and 1870 and bear one common factor, which is their strong influence by the music of Richard Wagner. Although Dvořák threw away these quartets, he saved an Andante religioso from his fourth quartet, to which he gave a new life five years later in his second string quintet, Op. 77, as a second movement named Intermezzo: Nocturne, adding a double bass, making this a five-movement composition. However in 1883 he withdrew it from the quintet, expanded it and had it published in three different versions as Nocturne in B major, Op. 40 for string orchestra, piano 4 hands and violin and piano.

In 1873 Dvořák's life turned for the better: he married Anna Čermáková, and he had his first great success with his Cantata Dědicové bilé hory (The Heirs of the White Mountain). The two Quartets he wrote in this year give a feeling of more determined theme writing.^[29]

The composing of his String Quartet No. 5 in F minor, Op. 9, B.37, happened in this time of mood extremes: The happiness of success with the cantata, the acceptance of his second opera for rehearsal by Smetana and the marriage, but also the setback of the total failure of these opera rehearsals, and the ultimate rejection of the work.^[30] Though the influence of Wagner is still prominent, a new style is emerging: A Chopinesque waltz in the Scherzo and an almost Slavonic theme in the finale, which looks forward to the first set of Slavonic dances.^[31] Still the work isn't of the standard that Dvořák expected from himself, so he discarded it. But again some parts were too dear to forget about completely, and in 1877 he reworked the Andantino from the second movement into the Romance, Op. 11 for violin and piano, which he even orchestrated.

His most popular quartet is his 12th, the American, Op. 96. He also composed two piano quintets, both in A major, of which the 2nd, Op. 81, is better known. He left a terzetto for two violins and viola (Op. 74); two piano quartets, a string sextet; Op. 48; and four piano trios, including the Piano Trio No. 4 (subtitled Dumky), Op. 90. He also wrote a set of Bagatelles, Op. 47, for the unusual instrumentation of two violins, cello, and harmonium, Romanza for the violin and piano, two waltzes for string quartet, 10 love songs entitled Cypresses and a Gavotte for three violins.

Operas[link]

Dvořák's critical acclaim as a composer of symphonies and concertos gave him a strong desire to write opera. Of all his operas, only Rusalka, Op. 114, and, to a much lesser extent, The Devil and Kate, Op. 112, are played on contemporary opera stages with any frequency outside the Czech Republic. This is attributable to their uneven invention and libretti, and perhaps also their staging requirements—The Jacobin, Armida, Vanda and Dimitrij need stages large enough to portray invading armies.

One of his more frequently performed arias from Rusalka is "Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém" (or, "Song to the Moon").

There is speculation by Dvořák scholars such as Michael Beckerman that portions of his Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", notably the second movement, were adapted from studies for a never-written opera about Hiawatha.^[32]

List of operas^[33]

• Alfred (unpublished), 1870
• King and Charcoal Burner (Král a uhlíř), 1871, recomposed 1874, revised 1887, Op. 14
• The Stubborn Lovers (Tvrdé palice), 1874, Op. 17
• Vanda, 1875, revised 1879 and 1883, Op. 25
• The Cunning Peasant (Šelma sedlák), 1877, Op. 35
• Dimitrij, 1881/1882, revised 1883, 1885, 1894/1895, Op. 64
• The Jacobin, 1887/1888, revised 1897, Op. 84
• The Devil and Kate (Čert a Káča), 1898/1889, Op. 112
• Rusalka, 1900, Op. 114
• Armida, 1902/1903, Op. 115

Songs[link]

His best known song cycle is the 10 Biblical songs, op.99 were written in March 1894. It was during this time he was informed of the death of the famous conductor, and close personal friend, Hans von Bülow. Just a month earlier, Dvořák was grieved to hear that his father was near death, far away in Bohemia. This time, Dvořák would console himself in the Psalms. The resulting work, considered the finest of his song cycles, is none other than the ten Biblical Songs on the text of Czech Bible of Kralice. As fate would have it, his father expired 2 days after the completion of the work.

Another well known cycle are the 7 "Gypsy songs" (Czech Cikánské melodie) which include Songs My Mother Taught Me (Dvořák).

Dvořák created many songs, inspired by Czech national traditional music, as are "Love Songs", "Evening Songs", etc.

Other works[link]

From other important works, that show also the influence of Czech folk music, both in terms of rhythms and melodic shapes; perhaps the best known examples are the two sets of Slavonic Dances, written in two series. The first book, Op. 46 (1878), is predominantly Czech in respect to the forms represented. They were created for piano duet (one piano, four hands), but Dvořák proceeded to orchestrate the entire set, completing that version the same year. The second book, Op. 72 (as well as previous composed originally for piano) which came along nine years later, includes forms native to such other Slavic lands as Serbia, Poland and Ukraine.

Dvořák, however, in dealing with his own native idiom, did not use actual folk tunes in his dances, but created his own themes in the authentic style of traditional folk music, using only rhythms of original folk dances; that there has been any misunderstanding on this point only attests to his success in capturing the authentic folk spirit entirely through the fortunate combination of being immersed in that spirit and having the creative imagination to expand upon it. Each of them, and particularly in the orchestral setting, may well strike the listener as a concise ethnic rhapsody in the guise of an idealized dance form.^[34]

Beyond fulfilling a commission, Dvořák's Slavonic Dances were, for him, a political statement; an opportunity to celebrate in music the Slavic cultures of Central Europe, then under the repressive control of the Austrian Empire.^[35]

Another very popular work that does not fit into any of the above caregories is the Symphonic Variations of 1877. The work was initially disregarded, being revived only after ten years, but has since become a concert and recording favourite.

Dvořák and musical criticism[link]

Dvořák was a knowledgeable writer on music. His arguments have stood the time as insightful, passionate and persuasive, as this article on Schubert, from July 1894, clearly demonstrates.^[36]

Notable students[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Harry T. Burleigh
• Will Marion Cook
• William Arms Fisher
• Rubin Goldmark (who taught Aaron Copland and George Gershwin)
• Oskar Nedbal
• Vítězslav Novák
• Harry Rowe Shelley (who taught Charles Ives)
• Maurice Arnold Strothotte
• Josef Suk
• John Stepan Zamecnik

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Brown, A. Peter (2003). The symphonic repertoire, Volume 3, Part 1. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press. pp. 410–436. ISBN 0-253-33488-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=vRI_PGC_IBEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA411#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Goepp, Philip Henry (1913). Symphonies and their meaning: Third series: Modern symphonies. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. http://books.google.com/books?id=dOMvAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Kurt, Honolka (2004). Dvořák. London: Haus Publishing. ISBN 1-904341-52-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=kAVSQlZr-i4C. 

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Antonín Dvořák

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Antonín Dvořák

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Antonín Dvořák

• Comprehensive Dvořák site (Czech)
• List of Dvořák's works
• Collection of news articles and correspondence about Dvořák's stay in America
• Antonín Dvořák Recordings at the Internet Archive
• Free scores by Dvořák in the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Antonín Dvořák in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Works by or about Antonín Dvořák in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Free scores at the Mutopia Project

Emmy Destinn

Emmy Destinn (Ema Destinnová ([ˈɛma ˈdɛstɪnovaː] ( listen)); 26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930) was a Czech operatic soprano with a strong and soaring lyric-dramatic voice. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Biography[link]

Destinn was born Emílie Pavlína Věnceslava Kittlová ([ˈɛmiːlɪjɛ ˈpavliːna ˈvjɛntsɛslava ˈkɪtlovaː]) in Prague, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At first Destinn devoted herself to studying the violin, and intended to shine as a virtuoso on that instrument. When she was well on in her teens, however, her voice was so rich and full that she changed her mind and determined upon an operatic career.

Theatre Magazine, vol. 24, 1911

Her voice teacher since age 13 had been Marie Maria von Dreger Loewe-Destinn, and the young singer began using her teacher's surname as a tribute. She was let go after the short engagement at the Dresden Opera and declined by Prague National Theatre in 1897.^[1] Destinn debuted on 19 July 1898 at the Berlin Court Opera as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana.^[1] She made such progress that the intendant of the Berlin Court Opera engaged her at once when she was brought to her notice. She was merely nineteen at the time, but her voice and her genius for acting soon won the Berlin public. Her engagement in Berlin lasted till 27 October 1909. She sang in 54 operas, including 12 premieres, the most famous of which was Salome by Richard Strauss (5 December 1906).^[1]

Una partita a poker – a crucial scene of Puccini's La fanciulla del West; Minnie – Emmy Destinn; Johnson – Enrico Caruso; Sheriff Jack Rance – Pasquale Amato

Her fame became international in 1901 when she was invited to sing the part of Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer at Germany's Bayreuth Festspielhaus. She returned to sing the same role the next year.

Destinn made her London debut at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House on 2 May 1904, as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She appeared there in several operas for the next two seasons, including the London premiere of Madama Butterfly with Caruso. Her Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1908 with an acclaimed performance of Aida, after she was released from her contract with the Berlin Court Opera. Two years later at the Met, she created the role of Minnie in the premiere of Puccini's La fanciulla del West, again opposite Caruso, and under the direction of Arturo Toscanini.

Memorial of Emmy Destinn near Třeboň

While she was highly successful in the lighter roles of Wagner's operas, her spinto voice—although large in size, with a ringing top register—was better suited to German music of a less declamatory type. She also excelled in the French part of Carmen, too, in which she was said to rival Calvé, and in the Italian roles of Aida, Madama Butterfly and Leonora (in Il trovatore).

Destin's career suffered a fatal blow in World War I. She returned to her homeland after the start of the war in 1914, but her links with the patriotic Czech resistance caused her passport to be revoked. She was interned at her chateau for the remainder of the conflict. By the time that she returned to the Met in 1919, her voice had become rusty and she had been replaced in the hearts of New York audiences by a new generation of singers, though she did still continue to sing with the company until 1920.

Destinn returned to Czechoslovakia, where she married Joseph Halsbach, a Czech air-force officer, in 1923. She retired from the stage in 1926 and died from a stroke in České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia. She is interred in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague.

Emmy Destinn was a versatile artist and besides being a singer was a poet, novelist and playwright—though nothing she achieved in other professions has rivalled her reputation as a singer. Her voice can still be heard on CD reissues of the many 78-rpm gramophone records which she made during her prime, most famously in America for the Victor label.

Destinn's likeness appeared in 1996 on the 2,000 Czech koruna banknote.^[2]

	"Song to the Moon" ("Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém") From Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka; performed in 1915. "Vissi d'arte" "Vissi d'arte" from Giacomo Puccini's Tosca; recorded in 1914.
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This article is based on a text from the Etude magazine, prior to 1923, that is in the public domain.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Media related to Emmy Destinn at Wikimedia Commons

• Biography, discography, bibliography from the Kapralova Society
• The Emmy Destinn Foundation, with a biography
• Biography by Alan Bilgora for Prima Voce
• Biography from Opera-Gems.com

Gabriela Beňačková (also Gabriela Beňačková-Čápová. Born March 25, 1947) is a Slovak soprano.

She specializes in the music of her compatriots, particularly Eugen Suchoň, as well as Czech composers, notably Bedřich Smetana and Leoš Janáček. She is considered to be one of the greatest 'Jenufa's' in Janáček's opera of the same name. Her Carnegie Hall performance (and subsequent Metropolitan Opera run with Leonie Rysanek) is considered to be legendary.

In 1981 Czech television starred Mrs Benackova in a definitive version of Prodana Nevesta (The Bartered Bride), which has since become a popular DVD recording available in an all-regions format(2006). That recording teamed her with the heroic tenor (fellow Slovak) Peter Dvorsky, and with bass Richard Novak and other popular singers. She completed her farewell recital tour in 2008.

She has made a number of recordings, and has appeared in several filmed operas on DVD, as well as the feature film The Divine Emma, where she supplied the singing voice of the famous Czech soprano Emmy Destinn. Her voice can be heard in the movie Driving Miss Daisy singing title role "Rusalka" by Dvorak.

She has appeared as Fidelio/Leonore in the Royal Opera House production of Fidelio (1991).

She has made a beautiful recording in the title role "Rusalka" by Dvorak. The conductor was Vaclav Neumann.

Recordings[link]

• Leoš Janáček: Jenůfa Gabriela Beňačková with Naděžda Kniplová, Vilém Přibyl, Vladimír Krejčík, Janáček Theatre in Brno opera and chorus conducted by František Jílek (1977–1978) Supraphon CD SU 3869-2.
• Smetana - The Bartered Bride Gabriela Beňačková with Peter Dvorský, Richard Novák, Miroslav Kopp, Marie Veselá, Czech Philharmonic conducted by Zdeněk Košler, Supraphon DVD

References[link]

• IMDB page, accessed 21 January 2010
• Review of The Bartered Bride recording, accessed 21 January 2010
• Review of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 concert recording, accessed 21 January 2010
• Review of Rusalka recording, accessed 21 January 2010

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Czech Wikipedia. (June 2011) Don't speak Czech? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Czech article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|cs|Jan Žižka}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha
Equestrian statue of Jan Žižka by Bohumil Kafka on Vítkov Hill in Prague
Nickname	John the One-Eyed Žižka of the Chalice
Born	Trocnov
Died	Přibyslav
Place of burial	Unknown
Allegiance	Bohemia
Years of service	c. 1378–1424
Rank	Chamberlain to Queen Sofia of Bavaria
Battles/wars	Battle of Grunwald Hussite Wars Battle of Nekmer Battle of Sudoměř Battle of Vítkov Hill Battle of Vyšehrad Battle of Kutná Hora Battle of Nebovidy Battle of Deutschbrod Battle of Hořice
Awards	A castle near Litoměřice. He gave the biblical name of Chalice (Kalich in Czech) to this new possession

Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha (German: Johann Ziska or Johann Schischka; English: John Zizka of Trocnov and the Chalice) (c. 1360–1424), Czech general and Hussite leader, follower of Jan Hus, was born at small village Trocnov (now a part of Borovany) in Bohemia, into a gentried family. He was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka". From his youth, he was attached to the royal court and held the office of Chamberlain to Queen Sophia.

He fought in the Battle of Grunwald (July 15, 1410), where he defended Radzyń against the Teutonic Order. Later he played a prominent role in the civil wars in Bohemia during the reign of Wenceslas IV. Žižka's tactics were unorthodox and innovative. In addition to training and equipping his army according to their abilities, he used armored wagons armed with small cannons and muskets, presaging the tank of five hundred years later. He was also a master at using geography to full advantage as well as managing the discipline of his troops. Žižka is considered to be among the greatest military leaders and innovators of all time and is one of six commanders in history who never lost a battle (alongside Alexander the Great, Scipio Africanus, Genghis Khan, Alexander Suvorov, and Khalid ibn al-Walid).^{[citation needed]}

Grunwald[link]

Žižka was on the winning side of the Battle of Grunwald, also called the 1st Battle of Tannenberg, one of the largest battles in Medieval Europe. It was fought on July 15, 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila (Władysław Jagiełło) and Grand Duke Vytautas (Witold), decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led by Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. Most of the Teutonic Knights' leadership were killed or taken prisoner. The Knights never recovered their former power and the financial burden of war reparations caused internal conflicts and an economic downturn in their lands. The battle shifted the balance of power in Eastern Europe.

Rise to prominence[link]

Žižka's name first became prominent during the Hussite Wars. The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague, Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415). On November 13, 1419 a temporary armistice was concluded between the partisans of King Sigismund, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg and the citizens of Prague. Žižka disapproved of this compromise and left Prague for Plzeň, one of the richest cities of the kingdom with his followers, but soon left that city. On March 25, 1420 he defeated the partisans of Sigismund at Sudoměř, the first pitched battle of the Hussite wars. He later arrived at Tábor, the then-recently established stronghold of the Hussite movement. The ecclesiastical organization of Tabor had a somewhat puritanical character with a very strict military discipline being instituted though the government was established on a thoroughly democratic basis. Žižka took a large part in the organization of the new military community and became one of the four captains of the people (hejtman) who were at its head.

Wagenburg tactics[link]

Jan Žižka z Trocnova, fictional portrait by Jan Vilímek

Žižka helped develop tactics of using tabors, called vozová hradba in Czech or Wagenburg by the Germans, as mobile fortifications. When the Hussite army faced a numerically superior opponent they prepared carts for the battle by forming them into squares or circles. The carts were joined wheel to wheel by chains and positioned aslant, with their corners attached to each other, so that horses could be harnessed to them quickly, if necessary. In front of this wall of carts a ditch was dug by camp followers. The crew of each cart consisted of 16-22 soldiers: 4-8 crossbowmen, 2 handgunners, 6-8 soldiers equipped with pikes or flails (the flail was the Hussite "national weapon"), 2 shield carriers and 2 drivers.

The Hussites' battle consisted of two stages, the first defensive, the second an offensive counterattack. In the first stage the army placed the carts near the enemy army and by means of artillery fire provoked the enemy into battle. The artillery would usually inflict heavy casualties at close range.

In order to avoid more losses, the enemy knights finally attacked. Then the infantry hidden behind the carts used firearms and crossbows to ward off the attack, weakening the enemy. The shooters aimed first at the horses, depriving the cavalry of its main advantage. Many of the knights died as their horses were shot and they fell.

As soon as the enemy's morale was lowered, the second stage, an offensive counterattack, began. The infantry and the cavalry burst out from behind the carts striking violently at the enemy - mostly from the flanks. While fighting on the flanks and being shelled from the carts the enemy was not able to put up much resistance. They were forced to withdraw, leaving behind dismounted knights in heavy armor who were unable to escape the battlefield. The enemy armies suffered heavy losses and the Hussites soon had the reputation of not taking captives.

Gunpowder weapons[link]

The Hussite wars also marked the earliest successful use of pistols on the battlefield and Žižka was an inovator in the use of gunpowder. He was the first European commander to maneuver on the field with cannon of medium caliber mounted on carts in between the wagons.^[1] The Czechs called the handgun a píštala, and anti-infantry field guns houfnice, from which the English words "pistol" and "howitzer" have been derived. The Germans had just started corning gunpowder, making it suitable for use in smaller, tactical weapons. A gunman on an open field armed with only a single-shot weapon was no match for a charging knight on a horseback; however, from behind a castle wall, or from within the enclosure of the wagenburg, massed and disciplined gunmen could use the handgun to its greatest potential. From his experiences at the Battle of Grunwald, Žižka knew exactly how his enemies would attack, and he found new ways to defeat forces numerically superior to his own.

Hussite Crusades[link]

The Hussite Wars became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation and though predominantly religious movement it was also propelled by social issues and strengthened Czech national awareness. The Catholic Church deemed Hus' teachings heretical. He was excommunicated in 1411, condemned by the Council of Constance, and burned at the stake in 1415. The wars proper began in July 1419, with the First Defenestration of Prague, when protesting Hussites threw the town councillors from the windows of the New Town Hall. It has been reputed that King Wenceslaus IV was so stunned by the defenestration that he died from the shock shortly after on 16 August 1419. This led to the armed conflict in which Žižka would earn his fame.

The first anti-Hussite crusade[link]

A painting by Mikoláš Aleš showing Jan Žizka as hussite general

King Sigismund was king of Hungary but only the titular king of Bohemia. Sigismund had acquired a claim on the Bohemian crown, though it was then, and remained till much later, in question whether Bohemia was an hereditary or an elective monarchy. A firm adherent of the Church of Rome, Sigismund was successful in obtaining aid from Pope Martin V, who issued a bill on 17 March 1420 which proclaimed a crusade “for the destruction of the John Wycliffe, Hussites and all other heretics in Bohemia". Sigismund and many German princes arrived before the walls of Prague on June 30 at the head of a vast army of crusaders from all parts of Europe, largely consisting of adventurers attracted by the possibility of pillage. They immediately began a siege of the city and Žižka was compelled to defend the Kingdom. He was a pragmatist in developing his military strategy. His army consisted of farmers and peasants, lacking both the funds and equipment to be classic soldiers with sword, horse and armor, Žižka used their farmers' skills to boost their military efficiancy. He adapted the tools of agriculture into the tools of war. The agricultural flail was transformed into the flail.

Menaced by Sigismund, the citizens of Prague entreated the Taborites for assistance. Led by Žižka and their other captains, the Taborites set out to take part in the defence of the capital. At Prague, Žižka and his men took up a strong position on the hill just outside the city known as the Vítkov, now in Žižkov, a district of Prague named after the battle in his honour. On July 14 the armies of Sigismund made a general attack. A strong German Crusader-led force assaulted the position on the Vítkov, the stronghold that secured the Hussite communications with the open country. Thanks to Žižka's personal leadership, the attack was thrown back and the forces of Sigismund abandoned the siege. A monument was erected on the top of this hill to honor Jan Žižka (The statue has Žižka sitting on the largest horse statue in the world. It is 9 meters or greater than 27 feet tall.) On August 22 the Taborites left Prague and returned to Tábor. Though Sigismund had retired from Prague, the castles of Vyšehrad and Hradčany remained in possession of his troops. The citizens of Prague laid siege to the Vyšehrad (see Battle of Vyšehrad), and towards the end of October the garrison was on the point of capitulating through famine. Sigismund attempted to relieve the fortress, but was decisively defeated by the Hussites on November 1 near the village of Pankrác. The castles of Vyšehrad and Hradčany now capitulated, and shortly afterwards almost all Bohemia fell into the hands of the Hussites.

Žižka now engaged in constant warfare with the partisans of Sigismund, particularly with the powerful Romanist, Oldřich II of Rožmberk. Through this struggle, the Hussites obtained possession of the greater part of Bohemia from Sigismund. It was proposed to elect the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas to the throne. However, the estates of Bohemia and Moravia met at Čáslav on June 1, 1421 and decided to appoint a provisional government, consisting of twenty members chosen from all the political and religious parties of the country. Žižka, who took part in the deliberations at Čáslav, was elected as one of the two representatives of Tábor.

Žižka summarily suppressed some disturbances on the part of a fanatical sect called the Adamites.

He continued his campaigns against the Romanists and the adherents of Sigismund, and having captured and rebuilt a small castle near Litoměřice (Leitmeritz) he retained possession of it, the only reward for his great services that he ever received or claimed. According to the Hussite custom he gave the biblical name of Chalice (Kalich in Czech) to this new possession, and henceforth adopted the signature of Žižka of the Chalice. Jan Žižka didn't capture more estates during hussite wars. This fact wasn't usual at this time and made huge difference between Žižka and his contemporaries.

Later that year he was severely wounded while besieging the castle of Rábí, and lost the use of his remaining eye. Though now totally blind, he continued to command the armies of Tábor.

The second anti-Hussite crusade[link]

At the end of 1421, Sigismund, again attempted to subdue Bohemia and gained possession of the important town of Kutná Hora. The mainly German citizens of the city killed a few of the Hussites in the town and closed the city to Žižka, whose armies were camped outside the city walls. Žižka was at the head of the united armies of Tábor and Prague and though trapped managed to execute what some historians call the first mobile artillery manoeuver in history. Žižka broke through the enemy lines and retreated to Kolín, but having received reinforcements he attacked and defeated Sigismund's unsuspecting army at the village of Nebovidy between Kolín and Kutná Hora on January 6, 1422. Sigismund lost 12,000 men and only escaped himself by rapid flight. Sigismund's forces made a last stand at Německý Brod (Deutschbrod) on 10 January, but the city was stormed by the Czechs, and contrary to Žižka's orders, its defenders were put to the sword.

Civil war[link]

Statue of Žižka in Tábor's town square (Žižka Square), J. Stachovsky, 1884.

Early in 1423, internal dissent among the Hussites led to civil war. Žižka, as leader of the Taborites, defeated the men of Prague and the Utraquist nobles at Hořice on April 20. Shortly afterwards came news that a new crusade against Bohemia was being prepared. This induced the Hussites to conclude an armistice at Konopiště on June 24. As soon as the crusaders had dispersed, internal dissent broke out anew. During his temporary rule over Bohemia, Prince Sigismund Korybut of Lithuania had appointed Bořek, the lord of Miletínek, governor of the city of Hradec Králové. Bořek belonged to a moderate Hussite faction, the Utraquist party. After the departure of Sigismund Korybut, the city of Hradec Králové refused to recognize Bořek as its ruler, due to the democratic party gaining the upper hand. They called Žižka to its aid. He acceded to the demand and defeated the Utraquists under Bořek at the farm of Strachov, near the city of Hradec Králové on August 4, 1423.

Žižka now attempted to invade Hungary, which was under the rule of his old enemy King Sigismund. Though this Hungarian campaign was unsuccessful owing to the great superiority of the Hungarians, it ranks among the greatest military exploits of Žižka, on account of the skill he displayed in retreat. In 1424, civil war having again broken out in Bohemia, Žižka decisively defeated the "Praguers" and Utraquist nobles at Skalice on January 6, and at Malešov on June 7. In September, he marched on Prague. On the 14th of that month, peace was concluded between the Hussite parties through the influence of John of Rokycan, afterwards Utraquist archbishop of Prague. It was agreed that the now reunited Hussites should attack Moravia, part of which was still held by Sigismund's partisans, and that Žižka should be the leader in this campaign. However, he died of the plague at Přibyslav on October 11, 1424 on the Moravian frontier. According to chronicler Piccolomini, Žižka's dying wish was to have his skin used to make drums so that he might continue to lead his troops even after death. Žižka was so well regarded that when he died, his soldiers called themselves the Orphans (sirotci) because they felt like they had lost their father. His enemies said that "The one whom no mortal hand could destroy was extinguished by the finger of God".

He was succeeded by Prokop the Great.

Recent criticism and defence[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Jan Žižka in a detail of Jan Matejko's Battle of Grunwald

Recently there have been several speculations on the actual role of Jan Žižka in the development of Czech culture and religion among some historians studying this topic. They argue that Žižka mustn’t be considered only as a brilliant commander fighting for the aim of self-defense and returning the Church nearer to God; we may see him also as a man who – in the name of God – was responsible for killing many people and destroying significant part of a culture by massacring and burning down churches and villages, often sparing only women and children.

This opinion is considered to be very radical, though. The general view is that in response to many official crusades launched at Bohemia from every direction, Žižka had little choice but to stand up and defend his nation and the faith of his countrymen. At a time when mercy from an opponent was not expected, Žižka often offered mercy and enforced it. After the disobedience of his troops at Německý Brod, he ordered his entire army to pray to God for forgiveness for their sins. Thereafter, Žižka authored a document that enforced a strict code of conduct on everyone in his armies, himself included.

Jan Žižka, the man of the sword, may be considered the opposite side of the coin of Jan Hus, the man of God. In Otakar Vávra's film trilogy on the Hussite Revolution shot in the 1950s, Zdeněk Štěpánek played both Hus and Žižka, reflecting the two sides of the Hussite movement. The two men are permanently linked in the Czech national consciousness.

Pioneering a type of armored warfare not to be seen again till the 20th century, Žižka must be considered one of history's great captains.

Sources[link]

• Count Lutzow, The Hussite Wars, J. M. Dent & Sons London, E. P. Dutton & Co. New York (1909).
• Höfler, Konstantin, Geschichtsquellen Böhmens.
• Heymann, Frederick G. (1969), John Zizka & the Hussite Revolution, Russell & Russell New York (1955).
• Turnbull, Stephen, The Hussite Wars (1419-36), Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-665-8.
• Dr. Fudge, The Crusade Against Heretics in Bohemia, 1418-1437: Sources and Documents for the Hussite Crusades (Crusade Texts in Translation S.).
• Šmahel, František, Die Hussitische Revolution I-III, MGH-Schriften. 43/I-III, Hannover (2002).
• Verney, Victor (2009), Warrior of God: Jan Žižka and the Hussite Revolution, Frontline Books London. ISBN 978-1-84832-516-6.
• Bílek, Jiří (2007), Hádanky naší minulosti 7. Čtyři Janové a bratr Prokop, Euromedia Group Praha. p. 172-173. ISBN 978-80-242-1952-3.

References[link]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

Media related to Jan Žižka at Wikimedia Commons