Batka worked as an editor, music critic, and writer on music for several publications in Prague and Vienna during his lifetime. 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]
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]
Work
Publications
Schumann. Reclam. Leipzig 1891, series Musiker-Biographien, vol. 13.
J. S. Bach. Reclam, Leipzig 1892, series Musiker-Biographien, vol. 15.
Alpenkönig und Menschenfeind, after the eponymous work by Ferdinand Raimund, music by Leo Blech, 1903. The Berlin version of Alpenkönig und Menschenfeind was published under the title Rappelkopf, 1917.
Aschenbrödel. A fairytale in three acts, music by Leo Blech, 1905.
Stock im Eisen. Opera in three acts by Richard Batka and Julius Sikkind-Schwarz, music by Leopold C. Welleba.
Zierpuppen (Les précieuses ridicules). Musical comedy after Molière by Richard Batka, music by Anselm Götzl, circa 1906.
Versiegelt. Comic opera in one act after Raupach by Richard Batka and Pordes-Milo, music by Leo Blech, 1908.
„Versiegelt“, Textbuch, Titel
Interior page
pages 2–3
Pages 4–5
Page 58
Back cover
Rumpelstilzchen. Fairytale opera in three acts, music by Richard Stöhr, 1911.
Der Kuhreigen. A musical play in three acts. Poetry after the novella Die kleine Blanchefleure by Rudolf Hans Bartsch, music by Wilhelm Kienzl, premiere 23 November 1911 Vienna, Volksoper.
Eroica. musical drama in three acts (4 scenes), music by Marco Frank, 1918.
Ilse. Fantastic opera in three acts, music by Richard Stöhr, 1919.
Die Bäuerin. Opera in one act based on the drama of the same name from Clara Viebig's one-act cycle "Kampf um den Mann" set up by Richard Batka, music by Robert Hernried, 1923.
Translations
Bauernrecht (Psohlavci). Opera in three acts (6 scenes) by Karl Šípek after thee novel by Alois Jirásek, music by Karel Kovařovic, premiere 1898 Prague (Übersetzung 1900).
Die Ahne (L’Ancêtre). Opera in three acts by Lucien Augé de Lassus, music by Camille Saint-Saëns, 1908.
The Devil and Kate (Čert a Káča). Opera in three acts after a Bohemian folk tale by Adolf Wenig, music by Antonín Dvořák, premiere 1899 (translated circa 1908).
Lepa Vida (Die schöne Vida). Opera in four acts by Josip Jurčič, music by Risto Savin, 1907, premiere 1909 Laibach.
Die Rosenkönigin (La rosiera). Tragic idyll in three acts by Carlo Zangarini, music by Vittorio Gnecchi, 1912 (translation by Richard Batka and Hans Schilling-Ziemssen).
Lodoletta. Lyrical drama in three acts by Gioacchino Forzano, music by Pietro Mascagni, 1917.
Der Liebhaber als Arzt (L’amore medico). Musical comedy in two acts after Molière by Enrico Golisciani, music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, (translated in 1913).
Das Geheimnis. (Tajemství). Comic opera in three acts by Elišky Krásnohorské, music by Bedřich Smetana, premiere 18 September 1878 Prague.
Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert. Vol. 1: A–I. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN3-598-11545-8, p. 73.
Helmut Brenner/ Reinhold Kubik: Mahlers Menschen. Freunde und Weggefährten. St. Pölten – Salzburg – Vienna 2014, pp. 15–16, ISBN978-3-7017-3322-4.
References
^Nicolas Slonimsky (1938). Music Since 1900. W.W. Norton, Incorporated. p. 442.
