The present study analysis the historical background of the Prague premiere of the opera Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in December 1786. The author focuses on the phenomenon of the so called „burgherization“ of the opera within the frame of the dance music. In the concrete the study deals with the cycle of 12 German dances with coda by Johann Nepomuk Kanka. All of these two-piece dances, including the final coda, adapted melodies or motives from the mentioned work of Mozart. The study aspires to clarify the following questions: who was the composer of the cycle - father (born in 1744) or son (born in 1772) Johann Nepomuk Kanka? What is peculiar in Kanka’s stylization? What was the chronological order of the two preserved versions (for clavicembalo and for orchestra) - in
other words, if there was a later extract for piano or a later instrumentation. The chapter on
musical stylization contains text in supplement, table and illustrative examples of notes that
demostrate differences between melodical-motivic fundaments of the opera and its adjustments for dances. The study also tries to achieve more precise Information on the conducting of this music in the time, when and where the dances were played. The realized research indicates that the opera music met with a large response in the Prague burgher society and directly entered also this level of musical culture.
We have been witnesses of the revival of various moral, cultural and religious differences among people based on a concrete description of activities of a Czech gravedigger. In the recently launched standardization of particular qualifications of a gravedigger and in the manner of verification of his/her professional competence, the author, who is personally involved in this process, looks for the assumptions for establishing a cemetery open for all nationalities where religion and culture could co-exist. The text introduces both the historical (diachronic) interpretation of the position of a gravedigger as well as its socio-cultural (synchronic) delimitation. The author attempts to incorporate all objectively existing elements into the requirements laid upon professional competences of a gravedigger. Especially globalization, migration and recovery of local communities on the religious and ethnic basis belong among them.
Previous research indicates that Czechs harbor considerable doubt about the honesty of their political and economic system. One response to this perceived dishonesty has been disengagement, to the extent possible, from their work and public life. Disengagement was, both before and after 1989, the potent weapon used by Czechs in their workplaces to covertly make their wishes known on the factory floor. This behavior has proven problematic for the managers of the „new" private enterprises in the country. The tension between management and workers has resulted in the creation of complex interactions which can begin to be understood through an analysis of transactions in social capital. To accomplish this, this paper will examine two relatively successful companies in the Southern Moravian city of Brno during the period preceding E.U. accession. Through field notes, interview and survey data gathered during more than a year of ethnographic fieldwork, this paper will accomplish three objectives. It will analyze the interplay in those companies of discourses of honesty with the twin goals of managerial legitimacy and worker engagement. It will document the process of negotiation which has resulted in the development of a new moral economy on the workfloor and the growth of powerful worker networks within the enterprise. Finally, it will present a theoretical framework to capture the process of social capital creation and expenditure which is the product of these processes.