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Old Myths, New Fact: Czech Lands in the Centre of 15th-century Music Developments

Provider
GA ČR
Project code
GX19-28306X
Project type
EXPRO
Year of start
2019
Year of completion
2023
Researcher in MÚA
Hana Vlhová-Wörner
Beneficiary
Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR
Participants
Univerzita Karlova / Filozofická fakulta

Modern formation of the Czech identity is based, among other things, on reflection of the Hussite period, in which music took the role of the main medium for communication of new ideas. Surveys on 15th-century music, its repertory character and relationship to the European development is marked, from the 19th-century, by deliberate manipulation of historical facts and intentional dogmas about its esthetic value. This also affected descriptions of early music in Bohemia in a broader European context that is built on an insufficient, or even erroneous, understanding of a specific Central European development. General historical surveys refer to the Czech lands with terms such as “discontinuity”, “isolation”, “simplification”, or “delay”, when historical sources clearly indicate the opposite. The “myth” about the exclusive role of the Hussite tradition crucially influenced 19th- and 20th-century music composition, where pieces reflecting Hussite legacy, including those that quote erroneous reconstruction of Hussite tunes, were used to evoke Czech national feelings.

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