Alois Jelen (11 May 1801,

Světlá nad Sázavou Světlá nad Sázavou (; german: Swietla ob der Sasau) is a town in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,400 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages and hamlets of Benetice, Dolní Březinka, ...

– 15 October 1857, Prague) was a composer and archivist from the Austrian Empire. He was a Czech nationalist.

Biography

He displayed musical talent at an early age, so his father, a school teacher, sent him to Prague for his primary education. His first musical lessons were provided by the composer, , at St. Nicholas Church, where Jelen worked as a singer, from the age of nine. He was, however, orphaned at the age of twelve, so he was left to rely on his own personal resources and whatever patronage he could obtain. He later found a position as a tenor in the choir at the Church of Our Lady before Týn.Biographical data
@ SVK v Kladně After completing his education, in 1824, he took a position as a civil servant with the Kingdom of Bohemia, where he was assigned to the archives and became an expert in diplomatics. As a musician, he composed solo choral songs, both sacred and secular, and worked evenings as an opera singer. In 1840, he established the choir at the Žofínská (Sophien) Akademie and served as its

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

for four years. It soon became a major contributor to the promotion of Czech culture. After leaving the Akademie he worked as a private music teacher and music manager, at various churches and associations; notably at the , a nationalist organization promoting the Czech language. His best known composition comes from this period; "''Zasviť mi ty slunko zlaté''" (Light up the Golden Sun for Me), set to words by , a Czech nobleman. He became heavily involved in the Czech National Revival, and was active during the Revolutions of 1848. That same year, he stood as a candidate in the Cisleithanian legislative election and was elected to the Imperial Diet, representing the

Vlašim Vlašim (; german: Wlaschim) is a town in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. Vlašim is known for its castle and English style park. Administrative parts Villages of Bolina, D ...

constituency.Abgeordnete zum ersten Österreichischen Reichstag
/ref> In 1849, he was appointed Director of the archives at the Ministry of the Interior, and moved to Vienna with his family. He would, however, continue to be a regular visitor to Prague. During one of those trips, he died suddenly and was buried in the

Prague 20 Prague 20, also known as Horní Počernice (German ''Ober Potschernitz''), is a municipal district (''městská část'') in Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, l ...

district. In 1887, his remains were transferred to

Prague-East District Prague-East District ( cs, okres Praha-východ) is a district ('' okres'') within the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative seat is in Prague. The most populated town of the district is Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Bolesla ...

and interred with his daughter-in-law's family (Chourových). A street is named after him, near his birthplace.

References

Biography
@ Osobnosti

External links

List of works about Jelen
@ Souborný katalog České republiky {{DEFAULTSORT:Jelen, Alois 1801 births 1857 deaths People from Světlá nad Sázavou People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Old Czech Party politicians Members of the Imperial Diet (Austria) Czech male composers Czech archivists Czech choral conductors Czech civil servants Composers from the Austrian Empire Scholars from the Austrian Empire

Biography

References

Further reading

External links