Jakub Jan Ryba

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Jakub Jan Ryba

Jakub Jan Ryba , baptized as Jakub Šimon Jan Ryba , (born October 26, 1765 in Přeštice , † April 8, 1815 at Voltuš ) was a Bohemian teacher, cantor and composer of the early Romantic period . Many of his works, including the masses, he wrote in Czech, which was unusual for the time, because he was of the opinion that Latin texts were of no benefit to either the singer or the listener.

Life

Jakub Jan Ryba comes from a Bohemian cantor family. His father worked in several places - in Rožmitál (Rosenthal), Volyně, Přeštice (Pschestitz) and Nepomuk. Ryba noted that his parents were "rich in wise justice but poor in material resources." Ryba learned singing, violin, cello and organ under the guidance of his father and later figured bass and composition and was able to replace him on the organ at the age of ten.

In 1780 he went to the Piarist grammar school in Prague. Here he got to know the music of Josef Seger and other composers and copied compositions by Bach and Haydn. He was thinking of becoming a clergyman, so he wanted to study philosophy. But after five years he left Prague after his father had informed him that there was a vacancy in Nepomuk and that he could get it. But nothing came of the promised position. Ryba stayed at home for a year and then went to Mníšek, where he worked as a teacher's assistant. On February 11, 1788 Ryba was employed as a provisional teacher in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem and also took over the position of cantor.

He was soon disappointed with the local milieu , because it did not correspond to his ideas and efforts to push through the Josephinian school reforms. He was regarded as a cantor, but had constant inconvenience with his superior. In 1790 he married Anna Legler and had thirteen children with her, six of whom died early. The constantly worsening material conditions and incomprehension of the environment were the main reasons that he gradually avoided social life. He became shy of people and lost faith in friendship and justice. Finally he ended his life by suicide.

Memorial stone for Jakub Jan Ryba near Voltuš

After Ryba's body was found in a thicket near Voltuš on April 10, 1815, he received a donkey burial in a former plague cemetery northwest of Starý Rožmitál. In 1855, at the suggestion of Ryba's son Josef Arnošt Ryba, pastor Jan Fähnrich had the remains transferred to the new cemetery in Starý Rožmitál.

In 1854, forest workers erected a simple wooden cross at the place where he died near Voltuš. In 1933 this was replaced by a symbolic stone burial mound ( mohyla Jakuba Jana Ryby ).

Act

Ryba was one of the most learned cantors of his time and spoke several languages, which allowed him to read various philosophical writings as well as the original music theory literature of the time. In his posthumously published work Initial and General Foundations for All Musical Art , he laid the foundations of Czech music terminology.

His compositional oeuvre is extraordinarily extensive and includes a large number of songs, arias and the most diverse compositions for various instruments (sonatas, variations, minuets, duets, quartets, concerts, symphonies, etc.). He particularly emphasized the aesthetic side of the music and always tried to appeal to the listener. Numerous masses occupy an important place in Ryba's extensive church music. With a number of them he demonstrated his compositional mastery, especially his ability to work with the melody both homophonically and polyphonically .

For a long time only a small part of the legacy of this leading representative of the musical tradition of Czech cantors has remained alive. It was only after the Velvet Revolution that people began to rediscover his work in his home country and bring it to light.

One of his works, however, could not harm even the greatest political reprisals. The Bohemian Christmas Mass (Česká mše vánoční "Hej, mistře") , established in Rožmitál in 1796 , enjoys great popularity and popularity in his home country and was regularly performed in Christmas services even during the years of communist oppression. Even today it is “the” Christmas fair in Bohemia. In Prague, shortly before Christmas Eve, hundreds of music-loving people meet on Kampa Island to sing and play this popular outdoor mass.

Ryba wrote four autobiographies in the years 1799-1801, then 1806, 1811-1815 and 1813. While the first, written in German, was intended for a narrow circle of friends, but was later used by Dlabacz for his artist lexicon , the second was written as a poem for František Jan Vavák, and the third and fourth Ryba wrote in Czech. The second and third were reproduced by Slavík (see literature), the autograph is considered lost. The literature dates the third autobiography to 1811, although Ryba provides news up to 1815.

Works

Ryba wrote a total of around 1,300 compositions in the most varied of forms, among which the religious works predominated. From the surviving works are particularly known:

literature

Web links

Commons : Jakub Jan Ryba  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Ryba, Jakub Jan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian teacher, cantor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1765
PLACE OF BIRTH Přeštice
DATE OF DEATH April 8, 1815
Place of death Rožmitál pod Třemšínem