Václav Juda Novotný (1849–1922)

Czech music critic and translator. He reworked the libretto for the opera King and Collier for Dvořák, and revised the text of the oratorio Saint Ludmila for its stage version; he also translated the texts of Dvořák’s cycle Four Songs, Op. 82, into Czech. He accompanied Dvořák on his second trip to England and informed readers about the composer’s experiences in the country in Dalibor magazine. He is also remembered for his memoirs on Dvořák published in 1901. As editor on the magazine Humoristické listy he instigated Dvořák’s composition of Impromptu in D minor. Novotny also commissioned the composer to write the short piece Gavotte for the magazine Mladý houslista (Young Violinist).