He did not succeed in St. Vitus, he went to the Habsburgs. The composer is being rehabilitated by Prague Spring

The ensemble of historically informed interpretation, which has chosen an international English name, operates in Moravia: in Brno, then in Znojmo, where it is the resident ensemble of the local festival, and in Holešov – there, in turn, it leads the international Summer School of Baroque Music.

Is the territorial separation from the capital the reason why on Prague spring did he get it this year? Conductor Roman Válek has no answer for that. The invitation is a great satisfaction for him. Rather than personal pleasure, however, he gives way to the joy of the fact that next Wednesday, May 31, he will be able to present the personality of František Ignác Tůma in Prague’s Rudolfinum.

The composer, who lived from 1704 to 1774, is often referred to as a representative of early classicism, i.e. the era in which the big three of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven later reigned. Maybe that’s why the “baroque artists”, focusing on the previous era, have not yet paid more attention to Tům.

“Tům’s motet was created for the royal band of the Habsburg queen Elizabeth Kristina Brunšvicka, mother of Maria Theresa, who had a ‘break’ at Hetzendorf Castle,” explains the fifty-nine-year-old Válek about the repertoire of the upcoming concert. Although at first glance it appears to be a solo recital with the star, the renowned German countertenor Andreas Scholl, the entire Czech ensemble will play abundantly in it, and the choir will also have its share.

Tům’s music can remind one of Bach’s cantatas. The author, whose instrumental work is considered to bridge the gap between baroque and classicism, appears in this spiritual cycle to be firmly rooted in the baroque tradition with even archaic elements, referring to an even older practice.

“Tůma was employed as a church composer all his life, and the baroque and older eras were deeply rooted in the liturgy,” explains Roman Válek, a specialist in period interpretation.

The face of the festival evening will be the fifty-five-year-old German singer Andreas Scholl, who popularized the countertenor field in the 1990s and has been at the top of it for over twenty years. Five years ago, he accepted a solo role in the oratorio Saul by Georg Friedrich Händel, which was staged and filmed by the Czech Ensemble Baroque. Czech bass-baritone Adam Plachetka co-performed in it. “We caught each other’s eye there, he won us over with his human approach. We did several projects together, tours, he also taught for three years at our summer baroque school,” Válek recapitulates the cooperation with Scholl.

They still have one big collaboration, again with Handel, ahead of them, although according to the conductor, the singer is slowly at the end of his career. Nevertheless, in 2025, the top opera Giulio Cesare awaits them, from which a recording will be made.

But back to the rediscovered Czech author. František Ignác Tůma was a novelty for Andreas Scholl, his works are not shown abroad. “Czech musicology is partly to blame,” conductor Válek believes. “She gave him the label of a classicist author, but he should rather be ranked next to Jan Dismas Zelenka. His published compositions, symphonies and instrumental music do not give an accurate picture of this composer,” he says.

Looking at the catalog, it is obvious that most of the works are church compositions, for example the Stabat Mater was set to music by Tům nine times.

Válek considers studying motets to be the next step towards his rehabilitation. They will be recorded by the French company Evidence Classics, so the name Tůma could eventually resonate again in the European context. Similarly, the Czech Ensemble Baroque some time ago brought the Holešov native and Baroque composer František Xaver Richter, who lived between 1709 and 1789, back to consciousness.

“It’s the same model: his instrumental symphonies were recorded and performed, for example, by an ensemble from Helsinki, but Richter was mainly the long-time bandmaster of the cathedral in Strasbourg, and his legacy consists largely of liturgical music,” he finds parallels between him and Tůma Válek.

The Czech Ensemble Baroque under the baton of Roman Válek plays the Requiem by František Ignác Tůma, which he recorded for Supraphon the year before. | Video: Supraphon

Playing and singing the church compositions of František Ignác Tůma could come to mind. But it is not a complete matter of course. The music materials of the motets were all handwritten, and scattered throughout European archives and libraries – in Vienna, Dresden, Berlin or Rajhrad. The credit for the transcription and completion goes to the Brno musicologist Vlastimil Tichý, who specializes in the work of this composer.

According to Roman Válek, the modern premiere of the motets repays a small part of the debt that Czech culture owes to Tům. “I was surprised that in the year of Czech music 2024 nothing is being planned in connection with Tůma, nor with Josef Mysliveček, Jan Dismas Zelenko and others,” marvels the conductor. The national great Bedřich Smetana, whose 200th anniversary of his birth falls exactly next year, will collect all the glory and take care of the organizing capacities.

Roman Válek can speak at length about the context of the creation of Tům’s compositions. The composer, who unsuccessfully sought the position of church bandleader at St. Welcomes to Prague, found a job at the Habsburg court in 1741.

“Queen Kristina’s band was not as numerous as the one in the Hofburg – it had three first violins, about 12 singers. It played during the liturgy, but also performed the usual representative functions. Even with a smaller number of musicians, Tůma was able to create spectacular sound creations. In addition, he had top players at his disposal , we know some of them by name. And as for the singers, they had to be virtuosos,” says the head of the Czech Ensemble Baroque about the demandingness of the choral parts. The choir is an integral part of this baroque ensemble, led by the conductor’s wife, Tereza Válková.