Josef Fiala

Joseph Fiala
(b Lochovitz [now Lochovice], western Bohemia, 2 March 1748; d Donaueschingen, 31 July 1816).

Bohemian composer, oboist, cellist and viol player. In his youth he was bound to the service of Countess Netolická (Netolitzky) and studied the oboe in Prague with Jan Št'astný (i) and the cello with Franz Joseph Werner, who also taught Josef Reicha. There are divergent accounts of his precipitous departure from Prague and his visits to Regensburg and Vienna. From 1774 Fiala was an oboist in the Kapelle of Prince (Fürst) Kraft Ernst von Oettingen-Wallerstein in Swabia, where his colleagues included Ignaz von Beecke, Josef Reicha and Antonio Rosetti. The Wallerstein parish records mention the baptism of an illegitimate son, ‘Franciscus Xav. Josephus’, on 26 October 1776, the father being described as ‘Josephus Viola Musicus auliens’.