Page 118 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
P. 118
glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
Lvovský knew the organised Czech and Slavic minority in Vienna
well, e. g. Václav Cinert, the leading personality of the compatriot period-
ical Věstník – Časopis spolků českoslovanských ve Vídni (a magazine of
Czech-Slavic societies in Vienna). Lvovský was part of it, but he was not
isolated in it. Lvovský can be considered an “Utraquist”, meaning a Czech
artist active on both the Czech (Slavic) and German music scene in Vien-
na; they were generally considered Viennese rather than Czech in Vien-
na. Basically, all successful artists, academics, etc. involved in minority life
outside their main profession, such as the aforementioned F. Simandl, were
Utraquists. The aforementioned concert singer Anetta Nováková also falls
into this category.
The following is a list of the compatriot societies in which Lvovský per-
formed as a performer or in which his compositions were performed (1890–
1910) – the list is certainly not complete, but it will suffice for the sake of il-
lustration: the Slavic Singers’ Society, Slovanská beseda, the Association of
Czech-Slavic Cyclists’ Societies of Lower Austria in Vienna, Sokol, Lumír,
Slavoj, Láska k bližnímu. These were generally elite or middle-class socie-
ties, and the activities were only occasional, mainly carried out in the so-
cieties’ rooms, the only exception being the famous Ehrbar Hall in the 4th
district.
Lvovský maintained contact with the homeland. He was close to the
composers Z. Fibich and F. Musil (1852–1908). As editor-in-chief of the Ös-
terreichische Musik- und Theaterzeitung, he also had to deal with problems
related to some articles, e. g. Karel Knittl,62 a professor at the Prague Con-
servatory, objected to the fact that in this periodical Josef Srb-Debrnov por-
trayed him as an enemy of B. Smetana. The correspondence with František
Pivoda and Zdeněk Nejedlý, who returned to the case years later, also re-
lates to this case.
Musical journalism: Dalibor
Lvovský sent his reports from Vienna to the Prague music journal Dalibor,
the most important of its kind, in the period from 1890 to 1895. The first
such report (entitled A Letter from Vienna) was published at the end of No-
vember 1890, but it is likely that the feuilleton about F. Simandl (printed in
mid-October) had been written in Vienna.
62 Karel Knittl, “Polemisches,” ÖMTZ 8, supplement to issue no. 1 (1 October 1895): 10;
Josef Srb-Debrnov, “Zur Aufklärung,” ÖMTZ 8, supplement to issue no. 1 (1 October
1895): 10.
118
Lvovský knew the organised Czech and Slavic minority in Vienna
well, e. g. Václav Cinert, the leading personality of the compatriot period-
ical Věstník – Časopis spolků českoslovanských ve Vídni (a magazine of
Czech-Slavic societies in Vienna). Lvovský was part of it, but he was not
isolated in it. Lvovský can be considered an “Utraquist”, meaning a Czech
artist active on both the Czech (Slavic) and German music scene in Vien-
na; they were generally considered Viennese rather than Czech in Vien-
na. Basically, all successful artists, academics, etc. involved in minority life
outside their main profession, such as the aforementioned F. Simandl, were
Utraquists. The aforementioned concert singer Anetta Nováková also falls
into this category.
The following is a list of the compatriot societies in which Lvovský per-
formed as a performer or in which his compositions were performed (1890–
1910) – the list is certainly not complete, but it will suffice for the sake of il-
lustration: the Slavic Singers’ Society, Slovanská beseda, the Association of
Czech-Slavic Cyclists’ Societies of Lower Austria in Vienna, Sokol, Lumír,
Slavoj, Láska k bližnímu. These were generally elite or middle-class socie-
ties, and the activities were only occasional, mainly carried out in the so-
cieties’ rooms, the only exception being the famous Ehrbar Hall in the 4th
district.
Lvovský maintained contact with the homeland. He was close to the
composers Z. Fibich and F. Musil (1852–1908). As editor-in-chief of the Ös-
terreichische Musik- und Theaterzeitung, he also had to deal with problems
related to some articles, e. g. Karel Knittl,62 a professor at the Prague Con-
servatory, objected to the fact that in this periodical Josef Srb-Debrnov por-
trayed him as an enemy of B. Smetana. The correspondence with František
Pivoda and Zdeněk Nejedlý, who returned to the case years later, also re-
lates to this case.
Musical journalism: Dalibor
Lvovský sent his reports from Vienna to the Prague music journal Dalibor,
the most important of its kind, in the period from 1890 to 1895. The first
such report (entitled A Letter from Vienna) was published at the end of No-
vember 1890, but it is likely that the feuilleton about F. Simandl (printed in
mid-October) had been written in Vienna.
62 Karel Knittl, “Polemisches,” ÖMTZ 8, supplement to issue no. 1 (1 October 1895): 10;
Josef Srb-Debrnov, “Zur Aufklärung,” ÖMTZ 8, supplement to issue no. 1 (1 October
1895): 10.
118
