Josef Zubatý (1855–1931)

Professor of philology at Charles University in Prague, choirmaster, pianist, from 1923 president of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences. He was in contact with Dvořák from 1877 onwards through their membership of the Academic Readers’ Association. In 1885 he accompanied the composer on his third trip to England and informed Czech readers about Dvořák’s triumphs in the country in lengthy reports and articles. He wrote the first monograph on the composer, which he published in Leipzig in 1886 under the title Antonín Dvořák, Eine biographische Skizze. Dvořák recognised a fine musician in Zubatý and requested from him a number of piano scores, in particular, for his orchestral works.