Alois Jelen (11 May 1801,

Světlá nad Sázavou Světlá nad Sázavou (; ) is a town in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,400 inhabitants. It is known for a large women's prison. Administrative division Světlá nad Sázavou consists of 15 ...

– 15 October 1857,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a composer and archivist from the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. 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 The Church of the Mother of God before Týn (in Czech ''Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem'', also ''Týnský chrám'' ("Týn Church") or just ''Týn''), or Church of Our Lady before Týn, is a Gothic church and a dominant feature of the Old Town ...

.Biographical data
@ SVK v Kladně After completing his education, in 1824, he took a position as a civil servant with the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, where he was assigned to the archives and became an expert in

diplomatics Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, pr ...

. 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 (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

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 Czech ( ; ), historically known as Bohemian ( ; ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 12 million people including second language speakers, it serves as the official language of the ...

. 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 The Czech National Revival was a cultural movement which took place in the Czech lands during the 18th and 19th centuries. The purpose of this movement was to revive the Czech Czech language, language, culture and national identity. The most pro ...

, and was active during the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. That same year, he stood as a candidate in the Cisleithanian legislative election and was elected to the Imperial Diet, representing the

Vlašim Vlašim (; ) 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 the Vlašim Castle and its English landscape garden, English park. Administrative division Vla� ...

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. It is located in the eastern part of the city. It is formed by one cadastre Horní Počernice. As of 2021, there we ...

district. In 1887, his remains were transferred to

Prague-East District Prague-East District () is a Okres, district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Prague. The most populated town of the district is Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav. Administrative division Prague-East District i ...

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