Ernst Förchtgott / Arnošt Bohaboj-Tovačovský (1825-1874): A Viennese Slav and a Moravian Hussite Rolled into One

Drawing on a monograph in progress, the first part of this study gives a brief biographical overview, outlines the state of research and describes the work of the Czech composer Ernst Förchtgott/Arnošt Bohaboj-Tovačovský (1825-1874). The second part examines two case studies that illustrate the coexistence, in the composer, of both a purely national mindset (Tovačovský’s use of themes of the Czech Middle Ages, specifically Hussitism) and a global mindset manifested in a musical form of Slavic reciprocity (Tovačovský’s arrangements of Croatian folk music). The study as a whole confirms the importance of Tovačovský for Czech choral music of the third quarter of the nineteenth century and his unique position on the Slavic music scene in Vienna.