Editing Jakub Jan Ryba

{{Short description|Czech teacher and composer}}
[[File:JJryba.jpg|thumb|Jakub Jan Ryba]]
'''Jakub Šimon Jan Ryba''' (surname also Poisson, Peace, Ryballandini, Rybaville;<ref>{{Cite Grove |last=Poštolka |first=Milan |last2=Germer |first2=Mark |title=Jakub Ryba|name-list-style=amp}}</ref> 26 October 1765 – 8 April 1815) was a [[Czech people|Czech]] teacher and [[composer]] of [[european classical music|classical music]]. His most famous work is the ''[[Czech Christmas Mass|Czech Christmas Mass "Hey, Master!"]]'' (''Česká mše vánoční "Hej mistře!"'').

Ryba was born in [[Přeštice]] near [[Plzeň]]. His father was a schoolteacher, which was a very poorly paid occupation at the time. In 1780 Ryba went to [[Prague]], where he studied at the [[Piarists|Piarist]] [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]]. His teacher [[Cassianus Hanel]] taught him music. Ryba was a very good student and he soon started to compose. He dreamt of being a famous composer. In 1784 his father ordered him to work as a teacher in [[Nepomuk]]. Ryba reluctantly obeyed, but he was soon fired. After wandering for a few months, he received a message that his mother had died. After a long illness, he moved to [[Mnisek pod Brdy|Mníšek pod Brdy]]. Being popular among local inhabitants for performing music, he was quite happy there, but after some hesitation he accepted a schoolteacher position in [[Rožmitál pod Třemšínem]].

The school prospered under his supervision, but he had constant conflicts with the local pastor and council. His frequent requests for funds for repairs of the school building were usually rejected. In 1796, he wrote his most famous work, ''[[Czech Christmas Mass]] "Hey, Master!"'' (named by him as ''Missa solemnis Festis Nativitatis D. J. Ch. accommodata in linguam bohemicum musicam''), also as a consequence of a reconciliation with the local pastor. This work continues to be frequently performed at Christmas time in Bohemia.

An insufferable lack of money, the hostility of his superiors and total exhaustion led him to commit suicide at Voltuš near [[Rožmitál pod Třemšínem]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-24529409_ITM|title=Ryba: Missa Solemnis in C; Mass in E minor.|author=Bauman|work=American Record Guide|date=1 September 2003|access-date=6 May 2009}}</ref> On April 8, 1815, Ryba attended morning mass. Later, he was found in a dense forest with his throat cut with a razor. He had ''Essay on Peace of Soul'' by [[Seneca the Younger]], his favourite author, with him. He was buried at a plague cemetery near Rožmitál pod Tremšínem.

His works mainly include many [[Pastorale|pastorellas]] and [[Mass (music)|masses]], but few compositions beyond the ''Czech Christmas Mass'' are performed regularly today. 
[[File:JJRyba-grave.JPG|thumb|right|J. J. Ryba's monument near Voltuš]]

==Literature==
* Jiří Berkovec: ''Jakub Jan Ryba'', Prague, 1995, {{ISBN|80-85787-97-0}}
* Václav Spěváček: ''Jakub Jan Ryba, vychovatel našeho lidu'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>''Jan Jakub Ryba, Educator of Our Nation''<nowiki>]</nowiki>, Prague, 1984
* Jan Němeček: ''Jakub Jan Ryba: život a dílo'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>''Jan Jakub Ryba, Life and Works''<nowiki>]</nowiki>, Prague, 1963
* Jan Němeček: ''Školní deníky Jakuba Jana Ryby'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>''School Diaries by Jakub Jan Ryba''<nowiki>]</nowiki>, Prague, 1957 
* Irena Janáčková: ''Jakub Jan Ryba o svém hudebním životě'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>''Jakub Jan Ryba About His Life With Music''<nowiki>]</nowiki>, Prague, 1946. Translation of [[autobiography]] ''Mein musikalischer Lebenslauf'' (in German) from 1801.

==References==
<references />

== External links ==
(all texts are in Czech)
* Short online biographies: [http://zivotopisyonline.cz/jakub-jan-ryba.php zivotopisyonline.cz], [https://web.archive.org/web/20071008050629/http://www.riebel.cz/lkcr/tm/aa.asp?id=265 riebel.cz], [http://www.pis.cz/cz/dalsi_informace/info_a_z/ryba_jakub_jan pis.cz]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021003042439/http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Studio/1541/ryba.html  Detailed biography] 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071112173843/http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Studio/1541/cmv_text.html  Text of the Czech Christmas Mass]
* [http://epedagog.upol.cz/eped1.2003/mimo/clanek34.htm Overview of the diary written by Ryba]
* Parts of the ''Czech Christmas Mass'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20070115073126/http://www.sbor-strahov.cz/nahravky/Nahravky.htm MP3 format], [http://certik.ruk.cuni.cz/orchestr_UK/A-V/default.html MOV format] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609101456/http://certik.ruk.cuni.cz/orchestr_UK/A-V/default.html |date=2007-06-09 }}
* {{IMSLP|id=Ryba,_Jakub_Jan}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryba, Jakub Jan}}
[[Category:1765 births]]
[[Category:1815 deaths]]
[[Category:1810s suicides]]
[[Category:Composers from the Austrian Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century composers from the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century Czech male musicians]]
[[Category:Classical-period composers from Bohemia]]
[[Category:Czech male classical composers]]
[[Category:Czech schoolteachers]]
[[Category:People from Přeštice]]
[[Category:People from Mníšek pod Brdy]]
[[Category:Suicides by sharp instrument in the Czech Republic]]