The orchestra performed again in the summer of the 1798 at the Teplitzer Castle in Prague in honor of Prince Johann Nepomuk Clary-Aldringen. The concert was directed by Wranitzky; The Prince Lobkowitz, Cartellieri's pupil, personally sang an aria, whilst Prince Zubov played the violin and the two princesses of Courland sang a duet. In addition to Vienna and Prague, Franz Joseph Maximilian also began organizing concerts at the Raudnitz Castle. There is evidence that already in 1798, the works of Mozart “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” and “Così fan tutte” were performed there. The Prince invited an ensemble from Prague for the occasion, which had been put together by the singer and conductor Franz Strobach (1760-1820). The orchestra consisted of professional musicians as well as talented amateurs— mostly teachers from around Raudnitz.
The prince also took care of the musical education of his talented subjects. For example, from 1799 to 1801, he financed lessons, board and lodging expenses for the young clarinetist Jan Rebicek at Vaclav Farnik (1700-1838), a member of the orchestra of Count Pachta19. V. Farnik was the first clarinet teacher in Prague and his most famous pupil was the virtuoso Franz Thaddäus Blatt. Evidently there was a close collaboration between the Count's orchestra in nearby Liboch (Libechov) and that of the Prince, as shown by the participation of the Patcha orchestra in the musical celebrations in Raudnitz. Eisenberg was defined at the time as "seat of the muses." The following Prague musicians performed in this castle in 1799: Vaclav Kral, Anton Grams, Mathias Tvrznik, V. Farnik, Br. Toman and P. Schepke of the State Theater, as well as the singers Eleonora Magliani, Madame Wenzel, Pepi Rieger, J. Wenzel, P. Trcka, A. Ramisch, Fr. Strobach and others20.
The years from 1800 to 1802 offer an image of the musical activities of the Prince which were similar, though less rich, to that of 179921. Despite this decline, however, one can observe a broadening of the interests of the Prince. At which time his composer Cartellieri wrote an Italian opera: “Angarda Regina di Boemia” and a German one, “Rübezahl”22. On October 27, 1805 “La Creazione (Der Schöpfung)” by J. Haydn (translated by Jan Kruschina in Czech) was staged in Roudnice, directed by Antonio Casimir Cartellieri.
It was typical at the time that Franz Joseph Maximilian allowed the composers to rehearse, during which they could hear and improve their works before performing them in public. Lobkowitz laid the foundations for a new form of patronage, where the patron hires an orchestra and provides his own employees and rooms for the composer who is still in an intermediate stage of completeness of their work, but without the artist finding himself having further obligations towards him23. Lobkowitz Palace in Vienna and Einseberg Castle were seriously "a true residence and academy of music." The Lobkowitz orchestra, which the Prince had so kindly made available to the artists, was one of the last exceptional private orchestras with which an era of musical culture ended24.
In 1803, Anton Casimir Cartellieri married Frankiska Kraft, daughter of the famous cellist Anton Kraft, and they had 3 sons. The first-born, Joseph Cartellieri (1803-1860), would later occupy the summit of the new princely orchestra at the Loreto Chapel in Prague (1826-1860), under Ferdinand Lobkowitz. The second son studied economy and the youngest was a doctor. His wife lived in Prague thanks to a pension by the generous Prince25.
The recruitment decrees show that the orchestra was only officially founded on January 1, 1797. At the top of the list was Anton Wranitzky who became the first violinist and principal conductor of the orchestra. Anton Casimir Cartellieri became part of the orchestra on May 1, 1798 as a singing director and violinist, as well as an assistant conductor from 1800. The orchestra's basic group was formed with his arrival and his advice17. The ensemble played at home concerts, holidays, birthdays etc. The prince regularly moved with part of his court between Vienna, Prague, Einseberg, and Raudnitz always taking the orchestra along. He took this route almost every year, excluding years of war. On April 10, 1797 the cantata, “Timotheus, oder: Die Gewalt der Musik” (Timothy, or: The Power of the Music) by Peter von Winter was performed as well as the Concerto for two Clarinets by Cartellieri performed by the brothers Anton and Paul Stadler18 (see figures below).
Cartellieri died on September 2, 1807 in Liebhausen.
“Cartellieri was often ill during the last years. His strenuous, restless work pace had ruined his health, and here a hurtful disharmony with one of his colleagues may have contributed its part. His wife and the prince himself had been concerned about accompanying the prince from the Eisenberg Castle to Raudnitz, his illness broke out with an uncommon force. He had no strength left in him when he was taken to Liebshausen, a village under the prince’s jurisdiction about four miles from Eisenberg. He longed for his wife, his mother, who had been living with the family since he had obtained his appointment, and children, who were following in the count’s traveling party, but, by the time they had caught up, he was already dead. He died on 2nd of September 1807 at the age of thirty-four.”
(Report of Joseph Cartellieri to the life of his father Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, 16-12-1826)
On the evening of March 30, 1795, the second part of the oratorio “Gioas, Re di Giuda” was performed followed by the Symphony in E-flat major by Cartellieri. Instead of the Beethoven piano concerto, the bassoonist Matouscheck played Cartellieri’s Bassoon Concerto15. Unfortunately, these manuscripts haven’t been rediscovered yet. The performance of the oratorio “Gioas” cost the Prince hundreds of florins, as did the performances of Cartellieri’s other works16.
The following is an extract of a letter sent by Raudnitz on 8 June 1819 to Dr. Iwan26:
Following the order that you gave me, I have no hesitation in communicating with you the result. Although the widow of Cartellieri is in possession of a portrait of her deceased husband, she does not want to separate it, because it is the only memory of the deceased that she has. After trying to convince her for so long, she finally decided to send this portrait to the father in Vienna via Raudnitz's forest inspector, who then took him to Mr. von Peters for the necessary use. The widow has no biography of the deceased who, as can be seen from the copy of the added baptismal certificate, was born in Gdansk. His parents were famous singers in Berlin and it is said that his father is still alive and lives in Königsberg as a singer. The mother, on the other hand, died in Bohemia and was buried in Zemiech under the reign of the Swolinowesers, not far from Mühlhausen. But he himself was, as we know, one of the most excellent musicians of our time, he died at 34, on 2 September 1807 and is buried at the property of Prince Lobkowitz Liebhausen; left the widow with three orphans: Joseph, Paul, and Anton; he could not say more.
The young Cartellieri and Beethoven performed together in one of the “Academy-concerts” of the prince on the 29th and 30th of March 1795 in the Burgtheater for the benefit of the widows of the Tonkustlergesellschaft. The vocal work selected was Antonio Casimir Cartellieri’s oratorio in two parts: “Gioas, Re di Giuda.” The first part was performed on the first evening and the second part on the evening after. Cartellieri’s C-Minor Symphony was also performed in the same concert13 followed by a “new concerto for pianoforte” by Beethoven (No.1 in C major, Op.15). At the time, Beethoven presented himself to the Viennese public.
“At the first rehearsal, which took place the next day in Beethoven’s room, the pianoforte was found to be half a tone lower than the wind-instruments. Without a moment’s delay Beethoven had the winds instruments and the others tune to B-flat instead of A and played his part in C-sharp”.
(Franz Gherald Wegeler and Ferdinand Ries - 1838)14
The first traces of the Lobkowitz family date back to the mid-fourteenth century. Many members of this family have played an important role in history, not only in Bohemia but also in general in Central Europe. Some of the most important proof and testimonies of Bohemian culture comes from the castles in Raudnitz and Eisenberg (Jezéri) which contain art galleries and collections of scores10.
Franz Joseph Maximilian (1772-1816) was the only son of Ferdinand Philipp Joseph Lobkowitz (1724-1784). The little Prince lived a painful childhood as his father wanted nothing to do with him until he was seven years old. The young Prince was very lively and talented, but unfortunately handicapped. It is said that his nanny dropped him as a child and kept it hidden “that the child in her custody had a right hip problem, which got so bad that the leg atrophied.”11 After the death of his father, there was nothing left to hinder the predilection for the music of the young Prince; who would soon be transformed into his greatest passion. He developed a nice and very low voice and incredible skills in playing the violin and cello.
Thanks to the “Memorandum on the occasion of the centennial existence of the Tonkünstler-Societät,12” we have the testimony of the concerts performed by the members of the Tonkünstler-Societät in Vienna, from 1772 to 1870.
"After this [Timothy, or: The Power of the Music by Peter von Winter], the brothers Stadler will perform a new concerto for two clarinets composed by Sig. Maestro Cartellieri. Then the second part of the Grande Cantata will be performed". Concert program Burghteater in Wien, 10. April 1797. Österreich Nationalbibliothek.
