Bohemian composer and pianist. Born of the
servant class, he was educated at a Jesuit school through the
patronage of Count Johann Sporck. Turning to music, he studied
in Prague and later with
Wagenseil
in Vienna. Around 1765 he settled in Prague, where for three
decades he was a popular keyboard player and an influential
teacher. His Prague home and his Bertramka summer villa were
centers of local musical activity; Mozart completed
Don Giovanni
at the latter in 1787. A leading composer of galant style
instrumental music, Dusek composed some forty symphonies,
keyboard concertos, twenty string quartets, wind chamber music,
and keyboard sonatas. Not to be confused with
Jan Ladislav Dussek
[Dusik]
.