Reclaiming a Golden Past: Musical Institutions and Czech Identity in Nineteenth-Century Prague

Abstract

This dissertation explores the relationship between nineteenth-century musical activity in the Czech lands and Czech identity. The objectives of this study are to examine the history of significant musical institutions and organizations established during the nineteenth century, to analyze performance repertories for these entities, and to explore how the activities of these institutions are related to other components of Czech identity. I begin by investigating significant Czech identity markers that existed prior to the nineteenth century. These include a sense of cosmopolitanism established during the reigns of the Holy Roman Emperors Charles I and Rudolf II, a priority on religious reform and tolerance linked to the Hussite period, and a sense of cultural deprivation stemming from the conclusion of the Thirty Years’ War and the Counter-Reformation period. These foundational elements of Czech cultural identity provided the framework for the national revival of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, which was based in Enlightenment ideals, and for the nationalist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. Using three categories of artistic institutions as case studies—opera venues, including the Estates Theater, the Provisional Theater, and the National Theater; the Prague Conservatory and related music schools; and the amateur arts organizations Umělecká beseda and Hlahol—I examine the motivations for establishing these organizations and analyze their performance repertories to better understand how the contemporaneous idea of “Czechness” influenced and was influenced by these musical activities. The history of these entities and their performance repertories demonstrates that musicality was a meaningful aspect of Czech identity long before nationalist composers brought international attention to the Czech lands, and that in the communities involved with Czech musical life a stronger emphasis has frequently been placed on artistic identity than ethnic or nationalist identity.