Bohuslav Matej Cernohorský
Encyclopedia
Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský (Christened 16 February 1684, Nymburk
Nymburk
Nymburk is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, located 45 km east of Prague on the Elbe River. It is also home to the Czech men's basketball team ČEZ Basketball Nymburk...

, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 – 1 July 1742, Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

) was a Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, organist and teacher of the baroque era
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

. He wrote among other works motets
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...

, other choral works (a fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....

 Laudeatur Jesus Christus is cited by the Baroque Music Library as an excellent example of its kind) and organ solo works.

Life

He was a son of a Nymburk cantor
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....

 named Samuel Černohorský. From 1700 to 1702 he studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 university. In 1704 Černohorský became a member of the Minorite Order
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

; later, in 1708 he was ordained as a priest. Nevertheless, in 1710 Černohorský was expelled from Czech lands for ten years, and he left for Assisi
Assisi
- Churches :* The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. From 1710 to 1715 he worked as an organist in the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi
Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi
The Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor—commonly known as the Franciscan Order—in Assisi, Italy, the city where St. Francis was born and died. The basilica is one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy...

, and probably studied counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

 with Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian baroque composer and violinist.-Biography:Tartini was born in Piran, a town on the peninsula of Istria, in the Republic of Venice to Gianantonio – native of Florence – and Caterina Zangrando, a descendant of one of the oldest aristocratic Piranian families.It...

. He was called "Padre Boemo" in Italy. After the expiration of his punishment, he came back to Prague, where he devoted himself to teaching. Among the important pupils of the "Černohorský school" are Josef Seger
Josef Seger
Josef Seger was a Bohemian organist, composer, and educator...

, František Tůma
František Tuma
František Ignác Antonín Tůma was an important Czech composer of the Baroque era...

 and others. In 1731 he came to Italy again, and worked as an organist in Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

. Černohorský died in Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

 in 1742. He is an ancestor of the contemporary Classical/Flamenco guitarist , Peter Černohorský.

According to the biography at Arta.cz below, he officiated at the wedding of his colleague Šimon Brixi
Šimon Brixi
Šimon Brixi was a Czech composer. He was the father of František Brixi.-Life:He was born in Vlkava u Nymburka. In 1720 he began to study law in Prague. He did not complete his studies, devoting himsef rather to music. His artistic activity was linked with the musical life in Prague...

, father of František Xaver Brixi
František Brixi
František Xaver Brixi was a Czech classical composer of the 18th century. His first name is sometimes given, by reference works, in its Germanic form: Franz.-Biography:...

.

Style

Černohorský was an important representative of the late baroque style. He composed fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....

s and toccata
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...

s for organ, as well as vocal works. He deeply influenced the musical evolution in Czech lands as a composer, as well as a teacher.

Selected works

  • Vesperae Minus Solemnes (1702–1710) for choir, two violins and organ
  • Regina Coeli (1712), antifone for double choir
  • Laudetur Jesus Christus (1729) for soprano, alt, tenor, bass, strings and organ
  • Precatus est Moyses
  • Quare Domine Irasceris both for soprano, alt, tenor, bass, two violins, viola, three trumpets and organ

External links

Brief biography
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