In 2013 Veronika Uhlirova identified an important manuscript of viola d'amore music in the Czech Museum of Music in Prague. This manuscript was copied around 1800, and contains 26 solo works, called 'Galanteries', for viola d'amore, by Franz Gotz and his collaborator Josef Fuchs. Unknown until Uhlirova's discovery, the galanteries are an important part of an extraordinary group of pieces for viola d'amore associated with Gotz, including three multi-movement duos, two nocturnes, a double concerto and a short primer, or 'fondamento'. They are of immense significance to the history of this unusual instrument, and shine a bright light on an extraordinary but short-lived virtuoso school of viola d'amore playing in Bohemia and Moravia around 1800. In this article I place the 'Galanteries' manuscript in its historical context, arguing that the discovery of this remarkable collection invites a reassessment of the history of the viola d'amore during the late Classical period, tilting the centre of gravity away from Stamitz's Mannheim towards Bohemia and Moravia. I shed new light on Gotz's compositional collaborator, Josef Fuchs, about whom almost nothing is known, and on the pair's relationship with the court of Kromeriz. Finally, I analyse some of the more remarkable qualities of the galanteries themselves, both in terms of their stylistic traits and technical elements.
