- Grzegorz Joachimiak
The above words were written on the occasion of Count Johann Anton Losy von Losinthal’s death in Prague 1721. On the same occasion the famous lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss, who was born in Grodków (Germ. Grottkau) in Silesia, wrote the Tombeau sur la Mort Mer Comte d Logÿ arrivee 1721. Composée par Silvio Leopold Weiss in his honor. On the basis of Baron’s quotation and also from his description of Count Losy we are able to tell a lot of information about the life and works of the Bohemian lutenist. The subject of the Losy family genealogy and the complexity of his life have been already studied mainly by Adolph Koczirz and Emil Vogl and have been augmented by Petra Zelenková and Martin Mádl. They have cited sources from the archives (frequently from collections of different provenance) that are preserved from the period before and after the Second World War and together they give quite a comprehensive view. Furthermore, Vogl provided an extensive introduction about the important role of the Silesian lutenists and their seminal influence as well as the importance of research about “Bohemian lute music”.4 His words have some reality if we look back to the history of Silesia.
This article attempts to show some elements of Silesian music culture in the general cultural context of the Habsburg empire in Central Europe, where the connections of social lives of the lutenists were really significant on the line Vienna–Prague– Wrocław. The person of Count Losy von Losinthal could offer a good example to present these relations
A Week in the Blacksmith’s Life: Lutenists from Silesia and Bohemia around Count Losy von Losinthal (1650–1721)
