- Frantisek Kotzwara
Frantisek Kotzwara (Czech name: František Kočvara) (1730ref|order –
February 2 1791 ref|order) was avirtuoso double bassist cite web| title = NNDB| url = http://www.nndb.com/people/916/000113577/| accessdate = 2006-09-07] and composer. He is perhaps more famous for the notorious nature of hisdeath . cite web| title = NNDB| url = http://www.nndb.com/people/916/000113577/| accessdate = 2006-09-07]Life and music
Kotzwara was born in
Prague ,Bohemia and was something of a nomad. He travelled around Europe and performed with variousorchestra s. His mature career was based in England, where his compositions were published from 1775 onwards. These includestring quartets ,serenade s andstring trio s. In London he played in the 'Concerts of Antient Music', in theHandel Commemoration of 1791 and in the orchestra of theKing's Theatre .The only piece of his to have achieved renown is "
The Battle of Prague ", a composition based on the 1757Battle of Prague , in which theKingdom of Prussia foughtAustria . "The Battle of Prague" was a popular piece of music during the late 18th and 19th centuries, withMark Twain mentioning the piece in his book "A Tramp Abroad ". cite web|title = sfgate.com |url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2001/11/02/ching.DTL |accessdate = 2006-09-07] A similar piece, "The Siege of Quebec", often attributed to Kotzwara, is probably an arrangement by de Krift using assorted materials of Kotzwara.A notorious death
On
February 2 ,1791 while he was inLondon , Kotzwara visited aprostitute inVine Street, Westminster named Susannah Hill. Afterdinner with her in her lodgings, Kotzwara paid her twoshilling s and requested that she cut off histesticle s. Hill refused to do so. Kotzwara then tied a ligature around thedoorknob , the other end fastened around hisneck , and proceeded to havesexual intercourse with Hill. After it was over, Kotzwara was dead. His is most likely the first recorded death fromerotic asphyxiation .cite web|title = crimelibrary.com|url = http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/sharon_lopatka/6.html|accessdate = 2006-09-07] cite web| title = NNDB| url = http://www.nndb.com/people/916/000113577/| accessdate = 2006-09-07]Susannah Hill was subsequently tried for Kotzwara's
murder at theOld Bailey but was acquitted. The jury chose to believe hertestimony about the nature of Kotzwara's death. The court records of the case were supposedly destroyed in order to avoid a public scandal, though it is likely that some kind of copy was made by an individual. It is believed that this copy was used to produce apamphlet about the incident, including Hill's account of the event.cite web|title = Fiddler's companion|url = http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/MARA_MARO.htm|accessdate = 2006-09-07] A 2005 radio competition organised 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 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".cite web|title = NCBI (a database of medical papers)|url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=retrieve&dopt=abstract&list_uids=6375351|accessdate = 2006-09-07] A pamphlet, Modern Propensities, with details of the trial and an article about auto-erotic asphyxiation was published in London about 1797.
Notes
#Note|order Some sources give Kotzwara's year of birth as 1750 or 1740.
#Note|order Some sources give Kotzwara's year of death as 1793.References
Bibliography
*
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians
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