Václav Jan Kopřiva

Václav Jan Kopřiva was born in Brloh, near Cítoliby, in Bohemia, on 8 February 1708, and died in Cítoliby on 7 June 1789. He is often found in documents under the Latinised name Urtica, a translation of his Czech surname, which means "nettle". His reputation belongs to the religious music of eighteenth-century Bohemia, the field in which he spent almost his entire career.

His musical training began in Cítoliby with M. A. Kalina and continued in Prague, where he studied organ with F. J. Dollhopf, organist of the Church of the Crusaders. From 1730 he worked as cantor and organist in Cítoliby, a post that was confirmed as a permanent cantorship in 1742, and he also served briefly in Louny between 1733 and 1734. For an unspecified period, around 1754 to 1756, he also acted as secretary to Count Ernest Karl Pachta, owner of Cítoliby. In 1777 he sought the position of cantor in Louny; although he was recommended as an outstanding musician, he did not obtain it, and he remained in Cítoliby until his death.

Among his pupils were J. A. Gallina, J. Vent, J. Lokaj and his own two sons. His output, preserved mainly in sources from Cítoliby and other Bohemian churches, includes masses, Marian works and pastoral offices, among them a Missa pastoralis that mixes Latin passages with sections in Czech.