Josef Mysliveček
* 9 March 1737 in Ober-Šárka (Horní Šárka) near Prague, † 4 February 1781 in Rome
Josef Mysliveček was born near Prague, the son of a prosperous miller, and first trained in his father's trade. Only then did he devote himself entirely to music, studying composition in Prague with Josef Seger, among others. In 1763 he moved to Venice to continue his studies with Giovanni Pescetti, and he remained in Italy for the rest of his life.
He quickly made a name for himself there as an opera composer: Il Bellerofonte (Naples, 1767) brought his breakthrough, and he soon became known as “Il Boemo”, the Bohemian. He wrote about two dozen operas for Italy's leading theatres, as well as oratorios, symphonies, concertos and chamber music. The young Mozart met him in Bologna in 1770 and held him in high regard. A severe illness that disfigured his face, together with changing public tastes, left him impoverished, and he died in Rome in 1781, lonely and in poverty.
6 Quintets for 2 Oboes, 2 Horns and Bassoon
– First Edition –
Composed around 1775.
These 6 quintets survive in a manuscript copy held in the Santini Collection of the Diocesan Library (Diözesanbibliothek), Episcopal Vicariate General in Münster, under the shelfmark Hs 2725a+b. According to the copy, they were dedicated “A sua Eccellenza il Sig: Principe Rezzonico Senatore di Roma”.