The article summarises the position of George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in the music history of the Bohemian Lands, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries. Haydn became one of the leading figures of Bohemian music life during his life-time. Handel’s sacred compositions were known in Bohemia soon after he settled permanently in England. Handel’s and Haydn’s oratorios belonged to the core repertoire both of the Bohemian 19th century music societies and of private concert organisers; Handel’s music was performed arranged either by Mozart or by the controversial Viennese Kapellmeister and composer Ignaz Franz von Mosel. Mendelssohn was the only composer who matched Handel and Haydn in the number of performances of his oratorios in Bohemia.
Review of Donald Burrows – Rosemary Dunhill: Music and Theatre in Handel’s World. The Family Papers of James Harris (1734–1780), Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002, 1256 s.