• Military Music Institute: participating institution

Bohemia 14/6/1860 reported that there would take place on 16th June the annual concert of the [Military Music Institute] of the Society. This, providing the weather was favourable, would be followed by an outdoor entertainment featuring three military music ensembles. Brief details of the programme of the concert were given, including identification of the participating soloists. The event was then listed in the Tageskalender of Bohemia 16/6/1860, which noted ‘Saturday 16. June. Žofín Hall, Annual concert of the Society for Education in Military Music, then [a] production of the music ensembles of the Infantry Regiments of Archduke Sigismund, [of the] Prince Regent of Prussia and [of] Count Gyulai.’

The Dalibor 20/6/1860 review of this event, signed ‘-l.’, specified that this concert took place on ‘Saturday 15th’ June, evidently a mistake since the 15th June 1860 was a Friday. The date was however correctly noted in a pre-concert report published by Dalibor 10/6/1860 announcing that the ‘Director of the military music school, Mr Pavlis, arranges with his pupils on 16th June or in the event of inclement weather on 18th June a military concert on Žofín in the Hall and in the Garden.’ The Dalibor review related that the event not only had a numerous audience but also gained a ‘magnificent success.’ Beethoven’s Overture to König Stephan was ‘very accurately’ performed by the string orchestra of the Infantry Regiment of Archduke Sigismund, and a ‘very interesting arrangement’ by Pavlis for flügelhorn harmonie was worthily performed by pupils of the Institute. The duo for bugle and tenor horn was performed ‘with great surety and really proved the level’ of accomplishment attained by the pupils Křížek and Čáda. Černý’s ‘faultless execution and clean tone’ in the Concert variations by Strebinger was thought to demonstrate the excellence of Pavlis’s teaching method. The Czech periodical also specified that Mr Rafalský gave expressive performances of a cavatina from Balfe’s ‘Cikánka [The Bohemia Girl]’ and a song by Gumbert. Miss Lichtmayová perform ‘beautiful’ songs by Fesca, Mendelssohn and Schubert with great success. These vocal works were not clearly identified by the source. The review then proceeded to describe then the associated musical festival of three military music ensembles that after the concert took place outside on Žofín Island.