Hostinsky, Otakar
Hostinsky, Otakar
Hostinsky, Otakar, eminent Czech aesthetician; b. Martinëves, Jan. 2, 1847; d. Prague, Jan. 19, 1910. He studied law at the Univ. of Prague (1865–66) and philosophy and aesthetics at the Univ. of Munich (Ph.D., 1868), then studied composition with Smetana (1871). He was a music critic and an ed. of literary journals before becoming an instructor of aesthetics at the Univ. of Prague (1877), where he was made a prof, in 1892. He also taught music history at the Prague Cons. (1882–86). He developed what he termed concrete formalism (in opposition to Herbart’s abstract formalism) in the study of aesthetics, and also made important contributions to analytical methods of ethnomusicological research and to the study of harmony.
Writings
Das Musikalisch-schöne und das Gesamthkunstwerkvom Standpunkte der formalen Aesthetik (Leipzig, 1877); Die Lehre von den musikalischen Klängen (Prague, 1879); O významu praktických ideji Herbartových provšeobecnou aesthetiku (The Importance of Herbart’s Practical Ideas for General Aesthetics; Prague, 1881); O české deklamaci hudebni (Czech Musical Declamation; Prague, 1886); Herbarts Aesthetik (Hamburg, 1892); 36 nâpëvù svëtských pisni českého lidu z XVI. stoleti (36 Melodies from Secular Czech Folk Song of the 16th Century; Prague, 1892; 2nd ed., 1957); Jan Blahoslav a Jan Josquin (Prague, 1896); Hudba ν Čechách (Music in Bohemia; Prague, 1900); B. Smetana a jeho boj o moderni Českou hudbu (Smetana and His Struggle for Modern Czech Music; Prague, 1901; 2nd ed., 1941); O socialisaci umëni (The Socialization of Art; Prague, 1903); Českâ svëtska piseň lidová (Czech Secular Folk Song; Prague, 1906); Umëni a spoleönost (Art and Society; Prague, 1907); ëeská hudba 1864-1904 (Czech Music 1864-1904; Prague, 1909).
Bibliography
Z. Strejc, Umëni a spoleënost v teoretickém due O. Hostinského (Art and Society in O. H.’s Theoretical Work; diss., Univ. of Brno, 1969); L. Juřica, Hostinského nauka o harmonii (H.’s Theory of Harmony; diss., Univ. of Brno, 1972).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire