František Xaver Pokorný (1729-1794)
- Concerto (D-Dur) Per Flauto Traversiere
(previously attributed to Luigi Boccherini)
Performers: Camillo Wanausek (1906-1999, flute); Orchestre Pro Musica; Charles Adler (1889-1959, conductor)
Further info: Frantisek Xaver Pokorny (1729-1794) - Horn concertos
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Bohemian composer. It is possible, but cannot be proved, that he was
related to other Czech musicians called Pokorny. After studying with
Riepel in Regensburg, Pokorny entered the court orchestra of
Oettingen-Wallerstein in 1753. In 1754 he studied in Mannheim with
Johann Stamitz, Holzbauer and Richter. On returning to Wallerstein he
was promised the position of choral director there, but his appointment
was never confirmed. A symphony by Pokorny was performed on 13 July 1766
at Dischingen, the summer residence of the Prince of Thurn and Taxis.
The composer left the service of the Count Philipp Karl of
Oettingen-Wallerstein on 22 March 1770 and at last became a member of
the court orchestra of Thurn and Taxis at Regensburg, where, according
to payment records, he had already been playing the violin since 1766.
Pokorny’s gravestone in Regensburg gives his title as ‘musician of the
princely chamber of Taxis’ (Hochfürstlich Taxisscher Kammer-Musicus).
Pokorny left a great number of works. The largest group comprises some
140 symphonies, most of them preserved in autograph score. Of these
symphonies, 104 have also been attributed to other composers. These
misattributions were deliberately made by Theodor von Schacht, director
of the court orchestra of Thurn and Taxis, in Regensburg in 1796.
Schacht deleted the composer’s name and the place and date of
composition on the covers of these works and substituted names of other
composers or provided new covers. It has not yet been possible to prove
authorship of any of the 104 symphonies by a composer other than
Pokorny, which suggests that he did in fact write them all. Most of
Pokorny’s symphonies are in four movements. The works from his
Oettingen-Wallerstein period are scored for strings, flutes and horns.
The horn parts are throughout of a very virtuoso nature. The style of
the symphonies is strongly marked by melodies reminiscent of folk music.
The symphonies written in Regensburg are scored for a greater variety
of instruments and their formal concept is more carefully devised.
Pokorny’s son Bonifaz (Franz Xaver Karl) (Wallerstein, 24 Jan 1757 -
Scheyern Abbey, 5 Aug 1789) took vows at Scheyern Abbey in 1780 and was
ordained priest in 1783. He was one of the monastery’s leading musicians
as regens chori, organist and teacher. None of his compositions has
survived. Another son, Joseph Franz, born in Regensburg about 1760, is
mentioned in Eitner and Mettenleiter as a musician at the court of Thurn
and Taxis at Regensburg. However, no mention of him can be found in the
records of the Thurn and Taxis court orchestra. The horn virtuoso Beate
Pokorny, who was successful at a Concert Spirituel in Paris in 1780,
was not Franz Xaver Pokorny’s daughter but his sister.
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