Wenzel Thomas Matiegka

Who was Wenzel Thomas Matiegka?

Wenzel Thomas Matiegka was a Bohemian composer.

Matiegka was born in the town of Choceň in a remote corner of the state of Bohemia, then part of the Habsburg Monarchy, under the Habsburg ruler Joseph II.

Upon completion of his primary studies, he continued his musical education under Abbe Gelinek, becoming accomplished on the pianoforte while reading Law at the University of Prague.

After legal employment in the service of Count Kinsky, one of Beethoven's original sponsors, Matiegka moved to Vienna while in his late twenties, during the first years of the 19th century. There he was quickly acknowledged as a guitarist, composer and teacher of the piano.

His ready acceptance in the musical circles of Vienna was evident by those to whom he dedicated several of his chamber works. Schubert, as a young man, added a cello part to his Notturno, op. 21 for the important patron of music, Count Esterhazy, an enthusiastic cellist to whom Matiegka's original music was dedicated. Indeed the work was attributed to Schubert for many years.

Matiegka married and settled in the suburb of Leopoldstadt where he was also Kapellmeister until his death. He was survived, in penury, by his wife and six children, none of whom took up a musical career.