The Bohemian Land, Part III: The Arts

The Viennese Vormärz-Slavica Project encompasses a study of Metternich-era non-political scholarly and entertainment periodicals published in the Austrian capital, focusing on the collection of references to Slavic countries and cultures. To date, four volumes have been published: 1990: References to Russia in Viennese Vormärz Periodicals (1805-1848); 1992: References to Poles and Ruthenians in Viennese Vormärz Periodicals (1805-1848); 1994: References to the South Slavs in Viennese Vormärz Periodicals (1805-1848); 1998: Supplement to Vol. I; 2004: References to Upper Hungary (Slovakia) in Viennese Vormärz Periodicals (1805- 1848); the material in these volumes is arranged in the form of a critical inventory, according to the topics Literature and Writing, Linguistics, History, Educational Institutions, the Arts, Religion, Law, Regional Studies, Political Economy, and Natural Sciences. The upcoming volume covers the references to the Bohemian lands (present day Czech Republic) and their cultural ties with Vienna. Part I collects the material of the first chapter (Literature and Writing). The book was published in 2011 (1027 pages). Part II consists of references to Linguistics, Philosophy / Esthetics / Rhetoric, History and the Educational Institutions in the Bohemian Lands. The book will come out in 2012. Part III collects the references to the artistic life in the Bohemian lands as reported in Viennese entertainment periodicals, primarily in the "Wiener Theaterzeitung" and in the three musicological periodicals of that period. The first chapter is dedicated to the references about music. The many short biographical entries about Bohemian musicians and composers found in these periodicals collected and sorted in this volume allow us to assess the rich musical culture of Bohemia in the 18th and at the beginning of the 19th centuries. The chapter on fine arts encompasses references to contemporary artistic production, art exhibitions in Prague and bio-bibliographical notes about artists from the Bohemian lands. An unexpected result of the collection of the references to theatrical life is the fact that Viennese periodical covered not only stage repertoire and performances of mainstream productions in German, Viennese and German drama, French gote and Italian repertory opera but regularly reported on the Czech theatrical scene that emerged in the first half of the 19th century to strengthen the national revival movement of the Czech people. The study evaluates its sources as repositories of memory, compiling a critical survey and inventory of the relevant material, and shedding light on the German-Czech cultural coexistence that was later viewed in a one-sided or even negative way. It shows the extensive interest of the Viennese media in the musical, theatrical and artistic culture of the Bohemian lands in the pre-1848 period, and also documents the interest of the Viennese public in Czech culture.