Launch of Prague Concert Life Database
February 2007
The School of Music and the Central European Music Research Centre (CEMRC) at Cardiff University are delighted to announce the launch of the first stage of an innovative new online database. Prague Concert Life, 1850-1881 is an electronic catalogue of Prague musical life during one of the most significant periods of the Czech capital's history. The database project is directed by Professor John Tyrrell. The principal research assistant is Dr Karl Stapleton and the lead developer is Mike Jones of Cardiff University's Information Services (INSRV). Funding has been provided by a three-year grant (2005-08) from The Leverhulme Trust.
Not only does Prague Concert Life, 1850-1881 provide a list of the concerts and programmes from this period, but its aim from the outset has been to create a resource whose content, scope and usefulness transcend this essential material. This has been achieved both in the design of the database and through the inclusion of powerful search facilities. Unique to the resource is the incorporation of extended commentary texts directly linked to records of events, people, venues, institutions and works. These clarify editorial decisions taken in assembling material from different sources, offer useful supplementary background information and factual data, and outline the content of descriptive reports and reviews. Through such commentaries the content of the database extends to cover all aspects of Prague life and society.
Among the multitude of fascinating entries is information on the visits to Prague of Wagner, Berlioz, Liszt and Clara Schumann, on an interest in early music from Palestrina to Bach, on the acoustics of local performance venues, and on the foibles and tastes of Prague audiences. Schubert's Great C major Symphony received a remarkable early outing, and while Beethoven's late quartets were given notable performances, his Wellington's Victory was received with critical disdain. Information is now available on the most fashionable musical entertainments of the day, from popular society events to marathon choral-orchestral concerts, on the popularity of the songs of women composers such as the Countess Schlick, and on the developing taste for patriotic expression in compositions and performance.
And in case this wealth of musical information is not sufficient, PragueConcert Life, 1850-1881 also contains historical materials about Prague. The changing face of the city may be charted from the introduction of gas-lighting to the use of the omnibus, in the foundation of a Czech Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in the charitable support of the local poor and for poor students, as well as through insights into the anonymous travels of the English aristocracy, including the Prince of Wales as the 'Marquis von Cowley'.
The years currently available for searches are 1850-51, 1854 and 1858-60.