Die Cäcilienfeste des Joseph Proksch

Drawing on newspaper articles, a posthumous 'biographical monument' (1874), and hitherto unpublished letters from the private correspondence of Joseph Proksch—piano pedagogue and director of the renowned, mid-nineteenth-century Proksch Music Academy in Prague—this essay explores the Cäcilienfest and its aesthetic and institutional underpinnings. Establishment by Proksch within his Academy in 1839 and originally run as a semi-public event, the Festival of Saint Cecilia is distinguished by its connections to Cecilian iconography (including a commissioned painting by Franz Kadlik), a newly composed hymn to Cecilia (most likely to strengthen group identity), and the practice of traditionalist house concerts, the concerts spirituels. Deeply rooted in romantic synaesthetics in the aftermath of Rafael, the particular significance of the Cäcilienfest can only be understood against the backdrop of the fiercely enduring rivalries between competing music institutions in Prague. The festival's later development, particularly in the 1850s, was characterized by both Proksch's persuasive public appearances and a shift from the retrospective nature of the original house concerts toward the incorporation of his own compositions and those of his most talented pupils.