Otakar Hostinský

Born Jan. 2, 1847. in Martinoves; died Jan. 19, 1910, in Prague. Czech music historian, aes-thetician, music critic, and public figure.

Hostinsky studied law and philosophy at the University of Prague (1865–66) and aesthetics at the University of Munich (1867–68); he worked on composition and music theory independently and then took lessons from the composer B. Smetana. From 1869 to 1874 he was a music critic and editor on Czech and German music periodicals. He lived in Germany and Italy from 1873 to 1877. In 1877 he began teaching in Prague—aesthetics at the university (professor in 1892) and the history of music at the conservatory (1882–86). Hostinsky was the founder of Czech music history. In his studies on musical aesthetics and the history of Czech music he championed the democratic orientation and national originality of Czech musical culture. He wrote works on Smetana (vigorously popularizing his creations), A. Dvorak. Z. Fibich, V. Tomásek, Wagner, Gluck, and Berlioz; on Slavic folk songs and dances; and on the Czech secular folk songs of the 16th century. He composed piano pieces, songs, and études to the operas Elektra and Konrad Wallenrod.