Bendl, Karl (Karel)
Bendl, Karl (Karel)
Bendl, Karl (Karel), Czech composer and conductor; b. Prague, April 16, 1838; d. there, Sept. 20, 1897. He studied at the Prague Organ School withBlazek, Pietsch, and Zvonar. In 1864-65 he was active as a conductor in Brussels, Amsterdam, and Paris. Returning to Prague in 1865, he conducted the male choral society Hlahol for 12 years; also was briefly deputy conductor at the Provisional Theater in Prague. He subsequently served as an organist at the church of St. Nicholas in Prague. He was an ardent supporter of Dvořάk and Smetana in the cause of creating a national school of Czech music.
Works
DRAMATIC: Opera: Lejla (1867; Prague, Jan. 4, 1868); Bfetislav (1869; Prague, Sept. 18, 1870); Stary ¿enich (1871–74); Die Wunderblume (1876; Czech Radio, Prague, Aug. 30, 1940, in Czech); Indichi princezna, operetta (1876-77; Prague, Aug. 26, 1877); Cernohorci (1881; Prague, Oct. 11, 1881); Karel èkréta (1883; Prague, Dec. 11, 1883); Gina (1884; not perf.); Dite Tabora (1886-88; Prague, March 13, 1892); Máti Mila (1893-95; Prague, June 25, 1895); èvanda dudâk (1895-96; Prague, April 29, 1907). ballet:Ceská svatba (1894; Prague, Feb. 13, 1895). OTHER: 2 masses; 2 cantatas; about 450 songs and choruses.
Bibliography
E. Krasnohorska, Z mládíKarla Bendla (Prague, 1897; 2nd ed. as Z mého mládí, 1920); J. Polák, Karel B. (Prague, 1938).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire