Photo: Gustav Schlick · Public domain · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regionalfull biography
Jan Kalivoda
Person · male · Austrian Empire · Prague · born 1801 · died 1866 · recording since 2006
Bohemian violinist and composer (1801–1866)
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Also known as Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda · Jan Václav Kalivoda · Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda · Johannes Wenceslaus Kalliwoda · Johannes Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda · 扬·卡利沃达
Timeline
9 events▣ Album 6◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1800s
1860s
2000s
· Debut release
Debut release: Symphonies 5 & 7
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2010s
Biography
English biography655 words · 5 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1362969524
Biography
Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda (German: Johann Baptist Wenzel Kalliwoda; 21 February 1801 – 3 December 1866) was a Czech composer, conductor and violinist.
Life
Kalivoda was born in Prague on 21 February 1801. As early as 1811, he started studying violin and composition at the Prague Conservatory. He made his debut as a violinist at the age of 14. Upon completion of his studies he became a member of the Prague Opera Orchestra. His diploma from the Conservatory read "Excellent player solo or in an orchestra...shows great talent in composition." More prosperous tours as a violinist, for instance to Linz and Munich, followed.
Kalivoda lived what appears to have been a stable, hardworking musical life. For more than 40 years, from 1822 to 1865, he held the post of conductor at the court of Prince Karl Egon II of Fürstenberg and his successor in Donaueschingen (where the Danube begins in the Black Forest). His duties there included not only the writing of and care for the music of the court and church, but also the management and conducting of a choir, and annual musical journeys for education. These manifold responsibilities may have foreshortened his life. In any case, he went into retirement in 1865, and a year later he died, of a heart attack in Karlsruhe.
On 15 October 1822, in Prague, he married Operatic soprano Therese Barbara Brunetti (1803–1892). Their son Wilhelm Kalliwoda (1827–1893) continued his father's career, and worked as Kapellmeister for the Baden court in Karlsruhe, also composing (an Impromptu for piano was published as his opus 3 in Leipzig in 1854 ). During the 1850s he is mentioned by Alan Walker as a conductor at the Lower Rhenish Music Festival.
Significance
Kalivoda "represents a sort of symphonic 'missing link' between Beethoven and Schumann," writes the critic David Hurwitz, founder of Classics Today. "His melodic appeal and rhythmic energy undoubtedly have something to do with his Czech roots...but he also had a genuine understanding of symphonic development and real contrapuntal skill." Hurwitz observes that "as the predominance of minor keys suggests, his music has passion and an emotional depth that recalls Beethoven without ever descending into mere imitation. Part of the reason for his distinctiveness stems from his skill at orchestration."...The symphonic music of Kalliwoda is "thrilling, and it strikingly anticipates or echoes so much of 19th century music--from Berlioz to Dvorák to Wagner, and even Sibelius..."
Compositions
Kalivoda was a highly prolific composer, and was held in high regard during his lifetime by such eminent contemporaries as Robert Schumann. In all, his works number in the hundreds, of which there are about 250 works or sets of works with opus numbers.
His compositions included operas, symphonies, concert overtures—one of them, commissioned for the occasion, was used to close the first concert, in 1842, of the New York Philharmonic —as well as music for piano, piano concertos, concertinos for violin and for oboe, music for the church, lieder, choral music and various other vocal and instrumental works.
Selected discography
Kalliwoda: 6 Nocturnos for viola and piano. Performed by Ashan Pillai and Michael Endres. Oehms Classics
Kalliwoda: Overture No. 12; Introduction & Variations for clarinet & orchestra; Introduction & Rondo for horn & orchestra; Symphony No. 3. Performed by Dieter Klöcker (clarinet) & Radovan Vlatkovic (horn) with the Hamburg Symphony conducted by Johannes Moesus. MDG 329 1387-2
Kalliwoda: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6. Performed by the Hofkapelle Stuttgart conducted by Frieder Bernius. Orfeo C 677 061
Kalliwoda: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7; Overture No. 16. Performed by Das Neue Orchester conducted by Christoph Spering. CPO 777 139-2
Kalliwoda: String Quartets 1-3 opp. 61, 62 and 90. The Talich Quartet. 2006. Calliope 9357.
Kalliwoda: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4; Overture No. 17. Performed by Die Kölner Akademie conducted by Michael Alexander Willens. CPO 777-469-2
Kalliwoda: Violin Concertinos Nos. 1 & 5; Overtures Nos. 3, 7 & 10. Performed by Die Kölner Akademie conducted by Michael Alexander Willens. CPO 777-692-2
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 18 | 78.1th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 6 | 79.7th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 9 | 85.5th |
| Recording span (years) | -140 | 4.3th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (6 release groups · 6 studio albums)
Albums · 6
2006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:08:27
1Symphony no. 5 in B minor, op. 106: I. Lento. Allegro con brio9:552Symphony no. 5 in B minor, op. 106: II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace4:233Symphony no. 5 in B minor, op. 106: III: Allegretto grazioso5:054Symphony no. 5 in B minor, op. 106: IV. Rondo. Allegro assai8:265Symphony no. 7 in G minor, WoO 01: I. Adagio - Allegro non tanto13:116Symphony no. 7 in G minor, WoO 01: II. Scherzo. Allegro ma non troppo3:287Symphony no. 7 in G minor, WoO 01: III. Marcia. Adagio - attacca4:418Symphony no. 7 in G minor, WoO 01: IV. Allegro vivace7:369Overture no. 16 in A minor, op. 238: Adagio - Allegro non tanto11:422006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:05:17
1Overture no. 12, op. 145: Adagio maestoso - Allegro assai9:302Introduction and Variations, op. 128: Allegro agitato3:253Introduction and Variations, op. 128: Tema. Allegretto grazioso8:524Introduction and Rondo, op. 51: Introduzione. Allegro moderato3:305Introduction and Rondo, op. 51: Rondo. Allegretto grazioso5:376Symphony no. 3 in D minor, op. 32: Adagio molto - Allegro non troppo, con energica11:407Symphony no. 3 in D minor, op. 32: Poco Adagio, con espressione9:578Symphony no. 3 in D minor, op. 32: Menuetto. Allegretto, marcato molto - Trio. Presto, con leggerezza6:479Symphony no. 3 in D minor, op. 32: Rondo. Allegro agitato5:592006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:16:20
1Quatuor no. 1 en mi mineur, op. 61: I. Allegro moderato9:202Quatuor no. 1 en mi mineur, op. 61: II. Allegro. Scherzo7:553Quatuor no. 1 en mi mineur, op. 61: III. Adagio3:324Quatuor no. 1 en mi mineur, op. 61: IV. Vivace5:205Quatuor no. 2 en la majeur, op. 62: I. Allegro vivace9:226Quatuor no. 2 en la majeur, op. 62: II. Scherzo. Presto2:547Quatuor no. 2 en la majeur, op. 62: III. Adagio -4:048Quatuor no. 2 en la majeur, op. 62: IV. Vivace3:399Quatuor no. 3 en sol majeur, op. 90: I. Moderato10:5310Quatuor no. 3 en sol majeur, op. 90: II. Scherzo. Vivace5:5511Quatuor no. 3 en sol majeur, op. 90: III. Adagio5:5512Quatuor no. 3 en sol majeur, op. 90: IV. Allegretto grazioso7:31Schubert: Arpeggione / Schwanengesang - Kalliwoda: Nocturnes
2007 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:04:12
1Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor, D. 821 (arr. for viola and piano): I. Allegro moderato10:192Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor, D. 821 (arr. for viola and piano): II. Adagio3:423Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor, D. 821 (arr. for viola and piano): III. Allegretto8:3446 Nocturnes, Op. 186: Nocturne No. 1, Larghetto4:4456 Nocturnes, Op. 186: Nocturne No. 2, Allegretto ma un poco vivo3:1466 Nocturnes, Op. 186: Nocturne No. 3, Poco adagio3:4976 Nocturnes, Op. 186: Nocturne No. 4, Allegretto ma un poco vivo3:3686 Nocturnes, Op. 186: Nocturne No. 5, Adagio con molta espressione5:0196 Nocturnes, Op. 186: Nocturne No. 6, Allegro moderato3:5810Schwanengesang, D. 957 (arr. A. Pillai): No. 1. Liebesbotschaft2:4711Schwanengesang, D. 957 (arr. A. Pillai): No. 4. Standchen3:3212Schwanengesang, D. 957 (arr. A. Pillai): No. 7. Abschied2:5213Schwanengesang, D. 957 (arr. A. Pillai): No. 12. Am Meer4:2814Schwanengesang, D. 957 (arr. A. Pillai): No. 14. Die Taubenpost3:36Violin Concertinos / Overtures
2016 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 57:28
1Overture no. 3 in C major, op. 554:312Violin Concertino no. 5 in A minor, op. 133: I. Allegro moderato8:313Violin Concertino no. 5 in A minor, op. 133: II. Adagio4:054Violin Concertino no. 5 in A minor, op. 133: III. Rondo. Allegro9:315Overture no. 7 in C minor, op. 1017:476Violin Concertino no. 1 in E major, op. 15: I. Allegro maestoso6:137Violin Concertino no. 1 in E major, op. 15: II. Allegretto3:248Violin Concertino no. 1 in E major, op. 15: III. Allegro vivace6:249Overture no. 10 in F minor, op. 1427:022016 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 56:59
1Violin Concertino no. 1 in E major, op. 15: I. Allegro maestoso6:232Violin Concertino no. 1 in E major, op. 15: II. Allegretto – Allegro vivace4:063Violin Concertino no. 1 in E major, op. 15: III. Rondo. Allegretto grazioso6:214Symphony no. 1 in F minor, op. 7: I. Largo - Allegro8:385Symphony no. 1 in F minor, op. 7: II. Adagio ma non troppo10:086Symphony no. 1 in F minor, op. 7: III. Menuetto. Allegro3:307Symphony no. 1 in F minor, op. 7: IV. Allegro molto5:318Introduction and Variations for Clarinet and Orchestra in B major, op. 128: Allegro agitato - Tema. Allegretto grazioso12:22
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Jan Kalivoda head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 18 | 78.1th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 6 | 79.7th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 9 | 85.5th |
| Recording span (years) | -140 | 4.3th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kalivoda.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/ca00fa99-1b7b-491f-824c-32b9b3c627cediscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/ca00fa99-1b7b-491f-824c-32b9b3c627cecore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q642243seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Kalivodabiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Kalivoda
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Gustav Schlick · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q642243 · MusicBrainz: ca00fa99-1b7b-491f-824c-32b9b3c627ce