Frantisek Kotzwara
František Kočvara, known later in England as Frantisek Kotzwara (1730 – September 2, 1791order), was a Czech violist],[1] virtuoso double bassist and composer.
His death was one of the first recorded instances of death by erotic asphyxiation.
Life and music
Kotzwara was born in Prague, Bohemia, and was something of a nomad. He traveled around Europe and performed with various orchestras. His mature career was based in England, where his compositions were published from 1775 onwards. These include string quartets, serenades and string trios. In London, he played in the Concerts of Ancient Music, in the Handel Commemoration of 1791, and in the orchestra of the King's Theatre.
The only piece of his to have achieved renown is "The Battle of Prague", a composition based on the 1757 Battle of Prague, in which the Kingdom of Prussia fought the Habsburg monarchy. The Battle of Prague was a popular piece of music during the late 18th and 19th centuries, with Mark Twain mentioning the piece in his books Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Tramp Abroad, W.M. Thackeray in Vanity Fair, and Thomas Hardy in A Pair Of Blue Eyes. A similar piece, The Siege of Quebec, often attributed to Kotzwara, is probably an arrangement by de Krift using assorted materials of Kotzwara.
Death
On September 2, 1791, while he was in London, Kotzwara visited a prostitute named Susannah Hill in Vine Street, Westminster. After dinner with her in her lodgings, Kotzwara paid her two shillings and requested that she cut off his testicles. Hill refused to do so. Kotzwara then tied a ligature around the doorknob, the other end fastened around his neck, and proceeded to have sexual intercourse with Hill. After it was over, Kotzwara was dead. His is one of the first recorded deaths from erotic asphyxiation.
Susannah Hill was charged with Kotzwara's murder and tried on September 16 at the Old Bailey. She was acquitted, as the jury accepted her testimony about the nature of Kotzwara's death. The court records of the case were supposedly destroyed to avoid a public scandal, though it is likely that some copy was made. This copy was believed to be used to produce a pamphlet about the incident, including Hill's account of the event. A 2005 radio competition organized by the Radio Prague station led a listener to reveal that these court records had, in fact, not been destroyed and somehow found their way to the Francis Countway Library of Medicine (now known as Boston Medical Library ↗, est. 1875) in Boston.
In 1984 a paper about Kotzwara's death was published in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, entitled "The sticky end of Frantisek Koczwara, composer of The Battle of Prague". A pamphlet, Modern Propensities, with details of the trial and an article about auto-erotic asphyxiation was published in London about 1797.
Works
- Wikipedia article: Frantisek Kotzwara Works
Bibliography
- Modern propensities, or, An essay on the art of strangling, &c.: illustrated with several anecdotes: with memoirs of Susannah Hill, and a summary of her trial at the Old-Bailey, on Friday, September 16, 1791, on the charge of hanging Francis Kotzwarra, at her lodgings in Vine Street, on September 2. London: printed for the author and sold by J. Dawson, [1791?]
- Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ↗
References
- ↑ Štědroň, Bohumír (1963). Československý hudební slovník I. A-L. (Czechoslovak Music Dictionary Volume I, A~L). Státní hudební vydavatelství, 260.
External links
- Frantisek Kotzwara in Epdlp (Spanish)
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