August Wilhelm Ambros and the Reception of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina in Nineteenth-Century Prague
Abstract
In nineteenth-century Prague, musical works by Palestrina and his contemporaries became an important subject in the musical-aesthetic discourse on contemporary church music. During the first decades of the century, the performance of their works seems to have been limited to a few Prague communities, mostly to the religious orders, but due to newly founded music societies in the 1840s and 1860s, sixteenth-century vocal polyphony began to be heard alongside the modern repertoire performed at concerts in Prague.
August Wilhelm Ambros, a well-known publicist and music historian, contributed during his years in the Bohemian capital not only to the more frequent performance of Early Music at public concerts, but also, through his collaboration with Prague music societies, to a growing awareness of Palestrina and his works. This study examines the frequency of performance and importance of Palestrina's works in Prague and outlines the potential environments where Early Music was able to resonate.
Also discussed here is Ambros's participation in historical concerts, as well as possible stimuli for his interest in Palestrina's music, which could have arisen from the circumstances of Prague's musical culture.