Josef Nesvadba

Czech band director and composer (born January 14th, 1822 in Vyskeř, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic] – died May 20th, 1876 in Darmstadt, Germany) Born as Josef Hamáček, Nesvadba lost his father at a young age and grew up with his uncles Jan and, when Jan also died, Josef Nesvadba. Both were teachers in Vyskeř and gave him a musical education. At the age of ten, he already played the organ in the local church and composed songs. After attending high school in Jičín, he studied philosophy and music. In order to earn a living while being a student, he performed publicly under his uncle's last name, Nesvadba, a name that he finally adopted for himself. In 1843, Nesvadba performed for the first time as a conductor at the new Estates Theatre (Stavovské Divadlo) in Prague. In Spring 1844, he left Prague to became a band leader first in Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad), then in Olomouc (Olmütz), where he stayed till 1850, Brno (Brünn) and Graz. In 1857 he returned to the Stavovské Divadlo in Prague. In January 1860, he went to Berlin to become the conductor of the Italian Opera Association at the newly founded Victoria-Theater and the Kroll-Opera; occasionally, he also served as guest conductor for operas in Vienna. From 1862-1863, he worked as a band director (Kapellmeister) at the Städtische Theater in Hamburg, then from 1864 to his death in 1876 as court conductor in Darmstadt. As a composer, Nesvadba wrote mostly, but not exclusively vocal music. His best-known and most frequently recorded work is the "Loreley Paraphrase;" another song that was recorded by Souysa's Band in 1904 and Arthur Pryor's Orchestra in 1905 is his "Paraphrase über das Lied 'Wie Schön Bist Du'" (How Fair Thou Art).