# Vilém Blodek (1834-1874)



## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

Vilém Blodek (born as Vilém František Plodek, 3rd October 1834 Prague - 1st May 1874 Prague) studied flute with Antonín Eiser (1800-1876) and composition with Jan Bedřich Kittl (1808-1868) at the Prague Conservatory. After graduating in 1852, Blodek worked as a music teacher in the town of Lubycza (part of Galicia at the time).

Having returned to Prague in 1855, he started his career as a concert pianist and was also appointed conductor of the German Deutscher Männergesangsverein choir. In 1860 he became a flute professor at the Prague Conservatory, having succeeded his former teacher Antonín Eiser. From 1869 onwards, however, a mental illness started to affect Blodek's life, which eventually led to his hospitalization at Na Kateřinkách asylum in Prague, where Blodek died at the age of 39.

Blodek is well-known mainly as the author of operas based on Karel Sabina's librettos, namely In the Well (V Studni) (1866-1867) and Zítek (1869, unfinished). His Flute Concerto in D major (around 1862) was a part of the flute concert repertoire up to the present. He also wrote enthusiasts for the Estates Theater (from 1858 onwards), choral music, songs, religious music, etc.


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

Recommended listening:


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