František Xaver Brixi 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....

 classical 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...

 of the 18th century. His first name is sometimes given, by reference works, in its Germanic form: Franz.

Biography

Brixi was born in 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...

, the son of composer 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...

. He received his musical education at the Piarist Gymnasium in Kosmonosy

Kosmonosy

Kosmonosy is a town in the Czech Republic.-External links:*...

. His teachers included Václav Kalous, a significant composer himself.

In 1749 Brixi left Kosmonosy and returned to Prague, where he worked as an organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 at several churches. In 1759 he was appointed Kapellmeister of St Vitus Cathedral, thus attaining, at the age of only 27, the highest musical position in the city; this office he held till his early death. He wrote some 290 church works (of the most varied type), cantata

Cantata

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....

s and oratorio

Oratorio

An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...

s, chamber composition

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

s, and orchestral compositions. His organ concertos, which have been recorded several times each, are his best-known pieces today.

Style

Brixi's style is distinguished from that of his contemporaries by its fresh melodic writing, vivacious rhythm and lively bass lines, and from that of his predecessors by its simple yet effective instrumentation. During his lifetime his music was widely disseminated in 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...

 and Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

.

Important compositions

• Missa integra d minor
• Opus patheticum de septem doloribus Beatae Marae Virginis
• Concerto in D major
• Judas Iscariothes - Oratorium pro die sacro Parasceves
• Missa solemnis D major - mass for solo, choir, orchestra and organ
• Litanie de seto Benedieto
• Confiteor Tibi Domine
• Sinfonia in D
• Bitevní sinfonie
• Fuga in a minor
• Pastoral in C major
• Preludium C major
• Regina coeli

External links

• František Brixi