Language Selection
Institution Details
Name: Prague Men's Singing Society [Prager Männergesangsverein]
Commentary:‘IPrague Men’s Singing Society. The first independent male voice singing society to be founded in the city, the Prager Männergesangverein received its official charter in 1859 and gave its first concert on 21/5/1859. By the end of 1859 its annual report, published in Dalibor 20/1/1860 revealed that the society consisted of 41 institutional members, 38 contributing members and 56 participating members. Its takings for the year amounted to 848zl 80kr, outgoings were 700zl 22kr and profit totalled 148zl 58kr. The society’s aim, according to details published by Dalibor 1/4/1859, was specifically ’to cultivate German song’, namely male-voice quartets and choral songs. Rehearsals were to take place weekly. Each year the choir would give a major public concert and in the summer would undertake an excursion to sing outside Prague.
Prager Morgenpost 7/3/1863 reported news of the society’s general meeting, noting that the society comprised 49 practising members, 60 institutional members and 57 contributing members. A month later, on 5/4/1863, Prager Morgenpost published news from the society noting that since the previous year’s elections for its committee, the number of contributing and practising members had increased, including tenor singers. Performance events given by the society were also said to be increasing, not only entertainments and ‘convivial Garlands’ [Kränzchen] but also public events. By July the Society grew still further. Reporting on the the Männergesangverein’s annual general meeting, the same newspaper related on 24/7/1863: ‘In the General meeting of the Prague Men’s Singing Society on 18th July, the Director Dr Tragy spoke on the annual report and affirmed that the Society is visibly growing, in that 11 contributing members had been enlisted since the March meeting and of late a further 5 had applied; 7 performing members [had joined and a further] 9 had put themselves forward, the two categories [of membership therefore in total] increasing by 32 members.’
Initially the society enjoyed considerable success, boasting many members and staging successful and substantial concert productions. However, immediately it was founded it came under criticism from elements of the Czech musical community that its activities were insufficiently Czech-orientated and that its concerts were unacceptably contained a disproportionate number of German compositions. While most of its programmes from its foundation until the middle 1860s tended to consist of more German- than Czech-language works the choir was by no means uninterested or unsupportive of vernacular Czech music or of the Czech nationalist ideal. However, its position withing the increasingly split Czech-German social and cultural climate of the early 1860s caused problems in the running of the society and its event programmes. At the end of July 1863, for example, a festival event to be held to celebrate the founding of the Männergesangverein was compromised by no less than 30 members signing a petition (and threatening resignation) if a choral setting of Arndt’s Vaterlandslied was included in the programme. The dispute was related by Prager Morgenpost 1/8/1863, which noted that the work had already been rehearsed by the choir for months without a single objection. Continuing pressure from Czech quarters and competition from later exclusively Czech Prague choral societies eventually led to the choir changing its name to Beseda in 1866 and becoming, according to the Czech newspaper Národní listy 10/2/1866, ’a society with Czech character’.
Prague Men’s Singing Society - Pražský mužský zpěvácký spolek / Prager Männergesangverein
Prager Morgenpost 7/3/1863 reported news of the society’s general meeting, noting that the society comprised 49 practising members, 60 institutional members and 57 contributing members. A month later, on 5/4/1863, Prager Morgenpost published news from the society noting that since the previous year’s elections for its committee, the number of contributing and practising members had increased, including tenor singers. Performance events given by the society were also said to be increasing, not only entertainments and ‘convivial Garlands’ [Kränzchen] but also public events. By July the Society grew still further. Reporting on the the Männergesangverein’s annual general meeting, the same newspaper related on 24/7/1863: ‘In the General meeting of the Prague Men’s Singing Society on 18th July, the Director Dr Tragy spoke on the annual report and affirmed that the Society is visibly growing, in that 11 contributing members had been enlisted since the March meeting and of late a further 5 had applied; 7 performing members [had joined and a further] 9 had put themselves forward, the two categories [of membership therefore in total] increasing by 32 members.’
Initially the society enjoyed considerable success, boasting many members and staging successful and substantial concert productions. However, immediately it was founded it came under criticism from elements of the Czech musical community that its activities were insufficiently Czech-orientated and that its concerts were unacceptably contained a disproportionate number of German compositions. While most of its programmes from its foundation until the middle 1860s tended to consist of more German- than Czech-language works the choir was by no means uninterested or unsupportive of vernacular Czech music or of the Czech nationalist ideal. However, its position withing the increasingly split Czech-German social and cultural climate of the early 1860s caused problems in the running of the society and its event programmes. At the end of July 1863, for example, a festival event to be held to celebrate the founding of the Männergesangverein was compromised by no less than 30 members signing a petition (and threatening resignation) if a choral setting of Arndt’s Vaterlandslied was included in the programme. The dispute was related by Prager Morgenpost 1/8/1863, which noted that the work had already been rehearsed by the choir for months without a single objection. Continuing pressure from Czech quarters and competition from later exclusively Czech Prague choral societies eventually led to the choir changing its name to Beseda in 1866 and becoming, according to the Czech newspaper Národní listy 10/2/1866, ’a society with Czech character’.
Prague Men’s Singing Society - Pražský mužský zpěvácký spolek / Prager Männergesangverein