Johann Nepomuk Batka the Elder

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Johann Nepomuk Batka the Elder Ä.

Johann Nepomuk Batka the Elder Ä. (* July 16, 1795 in Johannesberg , Silesia ; † August 13, 1874 in Preßburg , Austria-Hungary ) was an organist , music professor and composer .

Life

Johann Nepomuk Batka the Elder Ä. was the descendant of an old Bohemian family of musicians. Already during his middle school studies he devoted himself to music, he learned the "musical craft" as a kind of self-taught . In 1814 he came to Vienna to attend the local university philosophy to study. During this time he also got to know Ludwig van Beethoven . From 1816 he worked as a music teacher in Hungary and as a cellist in the Pest theater. In 1838 he returned to Vienna and worked here as a music professor and organist.

Batka invented the aeolodicon , the predecessor of the aeoline , from which the harmonium was later developed. With this invention he traveled to many places in Austria and Germany , and with it he caused a sensation throughout Europe . The instruments were made according to his plans by the Viennese organ and instrument maker Jacob Deutschmann .

In 1843 Batka moved to Pressburg, where he worked as a composer . Next to the Michaelertor he bought a house in the Basteigsse (No. 2), where he lived with his future family. On December 27, 1844 he married Johanna Graselli (1812-1882), the daughter of one of Como coming Italian optician . The son of the same name, Johann Nepomuk Batka d. J. , later an important archivist for the city of Pressburg and well-known music critic.

Johann Nepomuk Batka wrote mainly church music ( Gebethe , Gottes Liebe , Hungarian Rondo ), many of which were premiered in the Karlskirche in Vienna . One of his best-known works is the Larghetto , op. 25, which was premiered at the inauguration of the second organ in the Great Church of the German Evangelical Church Community AB in Pressburg. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Pressburg Church Music Association in 1858, he wrote a cantata .

Johann Nepomuk Batka died on August 13, 1874 in Preßburg and was buried at the Andreas Cemetery in Preßburg.

literature

  • Carpathian German Biographical Lexicon. Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-927096-00-8 , p. 29.
  • Viera Obuchová: Ondrejský cintorín. Bratislava 2004, ISBN 80-88912-75-X , p. 99 (Slovak).
  • Austrian Music Lexicon, Volume 1.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to other information, he is said to have been born in Jauering in the Moravian-Silesian region .
  2. ↑ The organ was built by the Viennese organ builder Jacob Deutschmann. It had 27 registers. The inauguration concert took place on October 13, 1839.
personal data
SURNAME Batka, Johann Nepomuk the Elder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Batka, Johann Nepomuk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Organist, music professor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesberg , Silesia
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 1874
Place of death Pressburg , Austria-Hungary