Why did Zelenkas music disappear into obscurity for 200 years?
A. This is discussed at length in Janice Stockigt’s book. After Zelenka’s death, much of his music was “kept under lock and key” by the Dresden court, and the reasons for this are not clear. Telemann (1681-1767) is known to have written of ZWV 55 (Responsoria) being guarded jealously “as something very rare” (a more complete translation is given below). Copies of certain works (which had presumably been given away while Zelenka was alive) were made after his death and ended up in different parts of Germany and Czechoslovakia. There were even a few performances in the 1800s. Perhaps one of the strongest reasons for the obscurity of Zelenka’s music was that Catholic liturgical music had no place in a Lutheran society.
