Amongst the Slavonian people, the Bohemians take the most prominent place, having ever distinguished themselves above others of their race in all that relates to music. The Bohemian Violoncellists of German extraction have already been noticed in the fifth section of this work. We shall now consider those of distinctly Slavonic descent.
The oldest Bohemian Cellist of whom we have any information, is
Ignaz Mara, born about 1721 in Deutschbrod. He united to a fine intonation an execution full of expression. In 1742 he went to Berlin, was there married, and was received, apparently through the recommendation of his countryman, the Concertmaster, Franz Benda, into the Royal band, to which he belonged for more than thirty years. Mara died in Berlin in 1783. Of his Cello compositions, consisting of Concertos, several solo pieces and Duets, nothing has been printed.
His son, Johann Baptist, was more widely known. This was not due to his artistic endowments only, but to the dissipated wild life into which he fell from middle age in consequence of intemperate habits. Endowed with extraordinary musical talent, under the guidance of his father, he developed, during a proportionately short time, into such an excellent Cellist that Prince Henry of Prussia named him Chamber Musician. As he possessed a talent for mimicry, he had also to assist on the stage at the theatrical representations which took place in the Castle of Rheinsberg, inhabited by the Prince.
Mara was born on July 20, 1744. In the year 1773 he married the celebrated singer, Elizabeth Schmeling, who, at that time, belonged to the Berlin Opera. He made use of the large sums paid to his wife to gratify his passions, which led to many disasters and to matrimonial disturbances. Besides this he contracted debts. These irregularities increased to such an extent that his creditors were called together against him by the supreme court. As he had otherwise incurred the king’s displeasure, he resolved, in agreement with his wife, to get away secretly by night, but the attempted flight of the married couple was stopped, and Mara condemned to imprisonment. After he had again been set at liberty by the intercession of his wife, he succeeded once more, in 1780, in escaping with her, to avoid the tyranny of the King. They took the road by Vienna and Paris to London, where they arrived in 1784. During the year 1788-1789, they travelled in Italy, returned to London in 1790, went from thence to Venice, and then lived in London until 1792, where Frau Mara, wearied with the restless, wandering life of her husband, finally separated from him in 1799. Mara now returned to Berlin, but fell into straitened circumstances from having become unaccustomed to work and having neglected his art. He appeared, however, at one concert and then went to Sondershausen, where Gerber heard him, the author of the well-known Musical Lexicon, who said of him that he so finely rendered his Adagio, no orchestra need be ashamed of his playing; “and if, so continues Gerber, any one of his tones was out of tune, it was not the fault of his handling, but the bad and unequal stringing of his instrument. Perhaps his show pieces deserved less credit, which, however, appeared to be entirely in accordance with the taste of forty years ago. In other ways he conducted himself, while he was there, as a serious, accomplished, and thoroughly educated man, and gave not the slightest sign of inclination to intemperance. But he was in needy circumstances, and although his noble-minded wife had been frightfully disgusted at what she had suffered from him, yet in spite of this he was, from time to time, supplied by her with considerable sums of money.” Mara’s end was a sad one. He went, as Gerber further says, to Holland, where “his unhappy inclination for drink so gained the upper hand, that after having lost all sense of honour, he used to play for dancing, day and night, in sailors’ inns and miserable beer-houses, until at last, in the summer of 1808, at Schiedam, near Rotterdam, death set him free from this wretched life.” The Violoncello compositions of Mara, which consist of two Concertos, twelve Solos with Bass accompaniment, a Duet with Violin, and a Sonata with Bass, remained unpublished.
The Bohemian, Joseph Zyka,[139] was about twenty years older than Jos. Baptist Mara. He received his education as Violoncellist at Prague, and belonged, from 1743-1764, to the Electoral band in Dresden. He then went with his son Freiderich, who was likewise a good cellist, as chamber musician to Berlin, where, according to Fétis, in 1791, he died; but, according to Fürstenau, at the beginning of our century. He is said to have left behind him, in manuscript, several Concertos.
Johann Hettisch is distinguished as a remarkable Violoncellist. Born in 1748, in the Bohemian town Liblin, he was educated at the Piaristi College at Schlan, and then went to Prague in order to train as a musician. There he still was in the year 1772. Later, and indeed in 1788, he was, as Gerber asserts, employed at Lemberg in the Imperial civil service, from which it appears that in the flower of his age he had abandoned the practice of Art as a vocation. His playing seems to have been distinguished especially for its rich tone. According to Fétis, he left several Concertos and Cello Solos in manuscript.
The Catholic priest, Franz Mensi, born on March 27, 1753, at Bistra, where his father was tutor to Count Hohenems, early occupied himself with music, and when his parents went to Prague he became Joseph Reicha’s pupil for Violoncello playing while Cajetan Vogel instructed him in theory. Mensi also played the Violin. On both instruments he was considered clever, and not less so in composition. Some of his works, which consist of church music, Symphonies, and Quartets, are said to be preserved in the convent at Strahow. In the year 1808, Mensi was still living and working as curé at Pher. He also had some pupils, amongst these were Joh. Brodeczky, Wenzel Czižek, and Count Spork.
J. Stiastny (Stiasny) should be mentioned as one of the most distinguished Bohemian Cellists. He was born in Bohemia (according to Fétis at Prague) in 1774. The information regarding his education and his life are very limited. He is said to have been in the Prague Orchestra in 1800. On the title-page of his Op. 3, consisting of a Divertimento for Violoncello, he describes himself as Violoncellist to the Grand Duke at Frankfort. As the brief existence of the Grand Duchy of Frankfort, of which the Regent was Prince Primate of Dalberg, occurred within the years 1810-1814, there can scarcely be a doubt that Stiastny resided at Frankfort during that time. Later, about 1820, he bore the title of “Musical Director of Nuremberg,” and in that year lived at Mannheim. He appears to have gone from there to Great Britain, for many of his later works—as, for example, the “Trois Duos Concertans” (Op. 8) and the “Six pièces faciles” (Op. 9)—are dedicated to Englishmen. Amongst these compositions the Concertino (Op. 7), dedicated to Robert Lindley, may be favourably distinguished from similar productions among the Cello compositions at that period. The remaining Cello pieces of J. Stiastny, which consist of Variations (Op. 10), Rondo and Variations (Op. 12), two Sonatas with Bass (Op. 2), twelve light pieces for two Cellos (Op. 4), six similar ones (Op. 5), three Concerted Duos (Op. 6), and Six Solos with Bass (Op. 11) are qualified to be placed amongst the best productions of the older Cello literature, as they contained effects which for that period were entirely novel.