František Martin Pecháček, also ''Francis Martin Pechatschek, Pechaczek, Behatschek'' (10 November 1763 in

Ústí nad Orlicí Ústí nad Orlicí (; german: Wildenschwert) is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. The town lies in the Orlické hory, Orlické Mountains on the confluence of the rivers Tichá Orlice and Třebov ...

- 26 September 1816 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) was a Bohemian

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist,

pedagog Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...

and diligent composer. His son Franz Pecháček became known as a

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

violinist and composer. The collections of the Municipal Museum in Usti nad Orlici contain two of his compositions, a piece for violin and orchestra entitled ''Rondeau brilliant'' and a concert duo for two violins, ''Polonaise.''

Early life

František Pecháček was born in the back of a low category restaurant in

(Wildenschwert), later known as hotel Friml Orličan (today a marketplace in the suburbs). He received his first grammar and music lessons in Usti, and then went to

Litomyšl Litomyšl (; german: Leitomischl) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,900 inhabitants. It is former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see. Litomyšl is known for the château-type castle c ...

where he studied under the guidance of

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

director and pianist P. Lambert. Later he went to study philosophy and also acquire further musical training as a violinist from

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2 November 1739 – 24 October 1799) was an Austrian composer, violinist, and silvologist. He was a friend of both Haydn and Mozart. (webpage has a translation button) Life 1739–1764 Dittersdorf was born in ...

Weißwasser Weißwasser ( hsb, Běła Woda) is a town in Upper Lusatia in eastern Saxony, Germany. Weißwasser is the third largest town in the Görlitz district after Görlitz and Zittau. The town's landmark is its water tower. The town is part of the rec ...

, then part of

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...

Musical career

Pecháček moved to Vienna when he was twenty years old, where in 1790 he began acting as

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

of the ''Landstraßer Theaters'' and the

Theater am Kärntnertor or ( Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). History The theatre was built in 1709 to designs by An ...

. Pecháček composed two large and ten small

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a n ...

s, twelve

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, thirty

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

s, several

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

es and various

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

and

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The on ...

works, totaling over 100 opuses. On the occasion of the visit of King of Naples

Ferdinand I Ferdinand I or Fernando I may refer to: People * Ferdinand I of León, ''the Great'' (ca. 1000–1065, king from 1037) * Ferdinand I of Portugal and the Algarve, ''the Handsome'' (1345–1383, king from 1367) * Ferdinand I of Aragon and Sicily, '' ...

in Vienna in 1801 was conducted with great success of his ballet "Forest Nymph". The main focus of his compositional activity consisted in the creation of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

, such as laendler,

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

es, and

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...

s. In this field he gained such popularity, later only enjoyed by

Joseph Lanner Joseph Franz Karl Lanner (12 April 1801 – 14 April 1843) was an Austrian dance music composer and dance orchestra conductor. He is best remembered as one of the earliest Viennese composers to reform the waltz from a simple peasant dance to s ...

and

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ov ...

, of whom he is considered a forerunner.

Death

He died from exhaustion on the 26 September 1816 in Vienna, Esterházovském street, house No. 419, and was then buried at the now defunct Matzleinsdorf Protestant Cemetery. Unfortunately after his death, all his works fell completely into oblivion.

References

;Attribution *''This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article on the German Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the'
History
''section.''

External links

* Czech Wikisource has original text related to this article: František Martin Pecháček 1763 births 1816 deaths People from Ústí nad Orlicí Austrian classical composers Austrian classical violinists Czech male classical composers Austrian male classical composers Czech classical violinists Male classical violinists Czech Romantic composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Czech male musicians {{Austria-composer-stub