Wenzel Johann Tomaschek (1774-1850) was born into a provincial merchant family in Bohemia, and through his musical skill and determination became one of the leading figures in Czech music in the first half of the 19th century.Tomaschek rose to recognition with his many connections to contemporary musicians both in Prague and Vienna, his keen critical eye and ear, and his sometimes cutting opinions of such figures as Steibelt and Woelfl. He developed aclose personal relationship with Goethe, for whose poems he composed dozens of settings for solo voice with piano. He also reported in detail on his conversations with Beethoven, painting a vivid picture of the master.

Tomaschek's autobiography was published in the German-Bohemian periodical Libussa in installments between 1845 and 1850. It has never been republished since then in German, though there was an edition in Czech in 1941. Thisis the first complete translation of this interesting and highly informative work, giving a view of the life and times of a leading cultural figure of the musical Romantic.