Krow, Josef Theodor

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Krow, Josef Theodor

Krow, Josef Theodor, Bohemian singer and composer; b. Nové Strašeci, Dec. 19, 1797; d. Draguignan, near Nice, March 1, 1859. He studied at the Piarist Gymnasium in Prague. He sang minor operatic roles in Hungary, Poland, and the Netherlands. After serving as a singing teacher in London (1835–40), he went to Nice (1858). His claim to a small niche in music history rests upon his publication of a drinking song to the words “Těšme se blahou naději” (Blissfully Hoping We Will Enjoy) in 1825, claiming it to be an authentic melody of the Bohemian religious reformer, martyr, and saint Jan Hus. His claim was widely believed; Liszt wrote a piano paraphrase of the song as Hussittenlied aus dem 15. Jahrhundert, Balfe made use of it in his opera The Bohemian Girl, and Angelo Tessaro in his opera Giovanni Huss. Even more spectacular was Krow’s success in setting the same tune to his own German words, “Polen wird für ewig Polen” publ. under the pseudo- Polish pseudonym Workinski (“Work” is the crab form of “Krow”) in 1831. Caught in the wave of universal sympathy for Poland after the unsuccessful rebellion, the song achieved tremendous popularity all over Europe.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire