Václav Jan Kopřiva


Václav Jan Kopřiva was a Bohemian composer and organist.

Life

Kopřiva was a son of the miller Václav Kopřiva, from the neighboring village Brloh, and his wife Juditka Rozumová. He received his first musical education from his godfather Martin Antonín Kalina, who was a cantor and a representative of another important music family in Cítoliby. He completed his studies in Prague, becoming an organist at the Crusaders' Church and studying with Franz Joseph Dollhopf.
Thereafter he worked as a cantor and organist in Cítoliby. With his wife Terézia, he had two sons Karel Blažej Kopřiva and Jan Jáchym Kopřiva, who both also became composers. His spiritual compositions have typical baroque characteristics and they employ pastoral poems and folksongs. His notable pupils include Jan Nepomuk Vent, Jan Adam Galina, Jakub Lokaj and both of his sons.

List of works