August Labitzky
Karl August Labitzky (born October 22, 1832 in Beschau ; † August 29, 1903 in Bad Reichenhall ) was a composer and conductor in Karlsbad , Austria-Hungary .
Life and accomplishments
August Labitzky was schooled by his father, the conductor Joseph Labitzky in 1845 for further musical training (violin) at the Prague Conservatory , where his older brother Wilhelm had been training for two years. Both stayed there until 1849 and then joined the spa orchestra in Karlovy Vary, led by their father, as soloists, began giving concerts of their own in 1850 and two years later had put together their first orchestra, with which they went on major international tours and, among other things, joined performed a ball at Buckingham Palace in London, where they also performed their father's compositions. August Labitzky was not quite 20 years old at the time. In the following years he consolidated his reputation as a musician in Karlsbad , but also carried out other concert tours.
In 1868 he took over the management of the Karlovy Vary spa orchestra from his father, where he prevailed over his older brother Wilhelm Labitzky (1829–1871), who then went to Canada and became cathedral music director in Toronto.
While his father Joseph had trained the Karlovy Vary spa orchestra primarily in high-quality dance music, August Labitzky also focused his performance on other musical styles, introduced a new style to the orchestra and prepared it for the performance of symphonic works. He expanded the repertoire with compositions by contemporary composers and conducted the European premiere of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony From the New World in 1894 . He enlarged the orchestra and, in addition to appearing in the spa orchestra, also took over the musical direction at the Karlovy Vary City Theater. He is the composer of 93 orchestral works, dance compositions and marches and has been honored with numerous domestic and foreign medals.
His compositions have the titles: Brandau-Walzer; Hereditary Prince Georg March; Grand Duke Vladimir March; From north to south, gallop; You stay well with me, Polka; Mecklenburg-Schwerin Grenadier March; Don Pedro Festival March; Caprice for small orchestra; At the Königsee; Addio miao bell arco, Romance; Overture to the hunt of Emperor Charles IV; La Moskowit, Polka u. a.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Death book of the parish of St. Nikolaus in Bad Reichenhall , 1903
literature
- Heribert Sturm : Biographical lexicon on the history of the Bohemian countries. Published on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) , Volume II, p. 363, R. Oldenbourg Verlag Munich 1984, ISBN 3 486 52551 4
- Josef Weinmann: Egerländer Biographical Lexicon with selected people from the former regional district of Eger, Volume 1 Männedorf / ZH, p. 298, complete production: Druckhaus Bayreuth, Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Bayreuth, ISBN 3 922808 12 3
- Moritz Kaufmann: Music and Musicians, Karlsbader Heimatbücher, 1927
- Maria Tarantová: Labitzky August. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 4, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1969, p. 390.
Web links
- Works by and about August Labitzky in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Labitzky, August |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Labitzky, Karl August (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bohemian composer, conductor and Kapellmeister |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 22, 1832 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Beech |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 29, 1903 |
| Place of death | Bad Reichenhall |