Battle of Prague

Battle of Prague: A favourite sonata for the pinaoforte or harpsichord with accompanimenst for a violin, violoncello, op. 23

Instrumental suite composed by František Kocžwara (Franz Kotzwara), a Bohemian instrumentalist and composer c1750 - 1791. Born in Prague, Koczwara spent much of his musical career in England. He died in London in somewhat bizarre circumstances: "Kocžwara gained special notoriety by the manner of his death, with which most early accounts of him are primarily concerned. He was reputed to have had unusual vices, and was accidentally hanged while conducting an experiment in a house of ill repute. Susan Hill, his accomplice in the experiment, was tried for murder at the Old Bailey on 16 September 1791 and was acquitted." (Grove Music Online)

"Though it commemorated a much earlier event (1757), Kocžwara’s The Battle of Prague was first published while he was in Dublin about 1788. It had phenomenal success and was widely reprinted in London, the USA and on the Continent (nearly 40 issues have survived). First published with accompaniments, it also became a standard parlour piece for solo piano and in Boston it was ‘indespensable to climax every concert’. Appearing shortly before widespread political upheaval in Europe, it served as the model for a host of imitations describing Napoleonic engagements."

(Grove Music Online)

The suite contains a fast section which appears as Quickstep in the Battle of Prague in the manuscript of John Clare (Northamptonshire); and a March which appears in the manuscripts of both John Clare and John Moore (Shropshire).

External references

• Ronald R. Kidd, "Kocžwara, František" Grove Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/15244