Austrian writer, music critic and musicologist
Richard Batka (14 December 1868 – 24 April 1922)[1] was an Austrian musicologist, music critic and librettist. Educated at German Charles-Ferdinand University in his native city of Prague, he began his career as a lecturing academic at that institution in 1900; leaving that post in 1906 to teach on the faculty of the Prague Conservatory. In 1908 he moved to Vienna where he taught courses in the history of opera at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna from 1909 to 1914.
Batka worked as an editor, music critic, and writer on music for several publications in Prague and Vienna during his liftemine. The author of numerous popular music-historical and aesthetic writings, he was one of the first German language writers to write on the Music of the Czech Republic. His Aus der Opernwelt: Prager Kritiken und Skizzen (1907, Munich) was the first book in the German language about Czech opera. He also penned his own opera libretti for composers like Eugen d’Albert, Leo Blech, and Richard Stöhr. Also notable among his writings was his three volume discourse on the history of music Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik which was published in Stuttgart between the years 1909 and 1915.
Life
Born in Prague on December 14, 1862, Batka was the nephew of music critic and archivist Ján Nepomuk Batka (1845–1917).[2] He studied the German language and literature with August Sauer and musicology with Guido Adler at German Charles-Ferdinand University (now Charles University) in his native city.[3] He received his doctorate from that institution in 1893 and received his habilitation at the university in 1900; the same year he was appointed lecturer at that institution.[2] From 1896 to 1898 he published the Neue musikalische Rundschau together with Hermann Teibler in Prague, from 1897 he worked among other things as an editor for the magazines Neue Revue and Der Kunstwart [de] as well as for the Prager Tagblatt. In 1903 he founded the Austrian Section of the Dürerbundes Prague, which he also headed. He taught on the faculty of the Prague Conservatory in 1906–1907.[2]
In 1908 Batka moved to Vienna, where he was a music critic and writer on music for the daily Vienna newspaper Fremden-Blatt [de] from 1908 to 1919.[3][2] Together with Richard Specht he was also editor of the journal Der Merker, which was founded in 1909.[2] From 1909 to 1914 Batka taught courses on the history of opera at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.[3]
As a writer, Batka wrote numerous popular music-historical and aesthetic writings.[2] He was one of the first German speaking writers to examine Czech music; and he translated several Czech operas and other Czech literary texts into German.[3] His book Aus der Opernwelt: Prager Kritiken und Skizzen (1907, Munich) was the first book in the German language about Czech opera.[3] He also translated several Polish, Italian and French operas into German, and penned several of his own opera libretti.[3] One of his more important publications, was his three volume discourse on the history of music Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik (Stuttgart, 1909–15).[2][3]
Batka died in Vienna on April 24, 1922, at the age of 53.[3]
„Versiegelt“,
Interior page
pages 2–3
Pages 4–5
Page 58
Back cover
