200 Years of Teaching at the Prague Conservatory

Catalogue number	0679
Date of issue	6.4.2011
Face value	10 CZK
Print sheets	50 stamps
Size of picture	23 x 40 mm
Graphic designer	Marina Richterová
Engraver Printing method	Martin Srb rotary recess print in black combined with photogravure in rosy, ochre, olive green and black

The Prague Conservatory, established in 1808 as a school for professional training of orchestral musicians, ranks among the oldest European schools of its kind. A proclamation, issued by music-loving Prague aristocrats on April 25th, 1808, became the primary stimulus for its foundation; it is now considered the founding charter of the Prague Conservatory. The first contributions started arriving soon after its publication, with the number of contributors steadily growing. The forthcoming Napoleonic wars delayed the plans, so that the organization "Society for Improving Music in the Czech Lands" set up by the aristocrats in March 1810 as a body intended to fund and manage the school over the following (more than 100) years, had to wait until April 24th, 1811 for the opening of first classes. Until the autumn of 1811 when the school managed to secure its own premises and "get under the roof" at the Dominican monastery of St Giles, the students were taught at their teacher's private rooms according to the first director Bedřich Dionýs Weber's syllabus. Singing lessons were added in 1817 to the already existing courses in orchestral instruments. The school significantly contributed to the development of Prague's musical life in the following period, with concerts provided by the school orchestra and the students' involvement in local professional orchestras being of vital importance and attracting praise of most renowned composers, such as C.M. Weber, R. Wagner, H. Berlioz, F. Liszt.
Bedřich Smetana applied for the post of the school's director in 1866, but he lost to organ school director Josef Krejčí, the candidate chosen by the selection board. 
The golden age of the school came in 1884; it moved to the newly completed Rudolfinum building and employed famous violin teacher Antonín Bennewith as director. New programmes, including piano, organ, composition and conducting courses, became available in 1890, after the school merged with the organ school, and in 1891 the school managed to secure Antonín Dvořák, first as a composition teacher and later as the school director (1901-1904). Dvořák formed a large number of leading composers, such as Josef Suk, Vítězslav Novák, operetta composers Oskar Nedbal and Franz Lehár, although the school boasts also other famous alumni, such as Otakar Ševčík, Jan Kubelík, Jaroslav Kocian, Václav Talich, Karel Ančerl, Rafael Kubelík, Bohuslav Martinů, Alois Hába, to name just a few.
After 1918, the conservatory was nationalized and lost its premises at the Rudolfinum. It moved to a Benedictine monastary, and later to the building of a former chemical institute at Trojanova street, before it ended in its present premises on Prague's Old Town Na Rejdišti street. A drama school, providing courses in drama, was added to the school's departments in 1919. The key figure contributing to its formation was legendary actress Otýlie Sklenářová-Malá. The school's directors in the period between the two world wars included famous figures such as Josef Suk, Vítězslav Novák, J.B. Foerster, Vilém Kurz, Jaroslav Kocian, and others. After World War II, a dancing department (an independent Dancing Conservatory after 1980) was formed, and the Prague Conservatory's "Master School" (providing follow-up courses after completion of standard programmes) was transformed into an independent academy of music. Václav Holznknecht (the school's director from 1942 to 1970), a lawyer, pianist and popularizer of music, led the school during the difficult time of the Nazi occupation and most of the communist regime. In 1986, a popular music department was established to provide courses in two major subjects, singing and composition.
After the change in the society in November 1989, both teachers and students worked hard to meet the constantly increasing demands laid upon music and theatre professionals. The school's major commitment is to sustain the high reputation of the school and to further expand the famous, two-century-old tradition of the school, which during its existence formed a myriad of musicians, composers, singers, dancers, and actors and played a significant role in the development of music education of the Czech population.

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