Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský
Illustration — Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský (Track 1.ogg) (17 July 1870 in Vienna – 27 October 1931 in Prague) was a Czech conductor and composer. He was founder and first principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
Also recorded as Ludvik Celansky · Ludvík Čelanský
Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský

Opomíjení a neoblíbení v české kultuře 19. století, p. 63 · Public domain
- Born
- 1870 · Vienna.
- Died
- 1931 · Prague.
- Nationality
- Austria–Hungary · Czechoslovakia
- Occupation
- composer · pedagogue · conductor · choir director · musician · teacher
- Fields
- music composing · conducting · composed musical work · music composition
- Education
- Prague Conservatory
- Honours
- Officer of the French Order of Academic Palms
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wikidata · Q255685 · wikipedia · Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský
In this article
Biography
Biography
Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský studied at Prague Conservatory. The field of work recorded is music composing, conducting and composed musical work. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Places of work recorded in the authority are Havlíčkův Brod, Dolní Krupá and Kutná Hora. Positions recorded include music director. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the French Order of Academic Palms.
Jan Čelanský, Ludvík's father, worked as a kapellmeister in Horní Krupá (Havlíčkův Brod district). Ludvík studied at the gymnasium in Havlíčkův Brod, and from 1887 to 1891 at the teaching institute in Kutná Hora. He worked as a teacher in Dolní Krupá for one year before devoting himself exclusively to music. From 1892 to 1894 he studied composition with K. Stecker at the Prague Conservatory, then at the dramatic school of the National Theatre and at Pivoda Operatic School. Čelanský was engaged as a kapellmeister at the opera house in Plzeň until 1895, in Zagreb from 1898 to 1899, and then as the third kapellmeister of the National Theatre Orchestra. He was forced to withdraw in 1900 when Karel Kovařovic took the administration of the theatre. Čelanský left for Lviv, where he established the opera house. Following his return, in 1901, he founded the Czech Philharmonic with striking members of the National Theatre Orchestra. However, he yielded the administration of the orchestra to Oskar Nedbal and returned to Lviv where he founded another institution - the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra (1902–1904). He simultaneously led the opera stages in Kraków and in Łódź and was engaged as a director of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Kiev (from 1904 to 1905) and Warsaw (from 1905 to 1906). In 1907 Čelanský established an opera house in the Vinohrady district of Prague. Later he became the director of the Apollo Theatre in Paris (from 1909). In recognition of his performances of the works of Jacques Offenbach, Čelanský was appointed an officer of L'Académie française. During World War I, he refused the post of director at the comic opera in New York City. Following the Czechoslovak proclamation of independence in 1918, Čelanský became the director of the Czech Philharmonic again, but was soon replaced by Václav Talich. Čelanský spent his later years in Prague, where he worked as a music teacher. During these years he recorded two of Dvořák's Slavonic Dances for His Master's Voice with a group of musicians from the National Theatre.
Career and activity
Career and activity
Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský worked in music composing, conducting, composed musical work and music composition. Recorded position is music director. He worked at Havlíčkův Brod, Dolní Krupá, Kutná Hora and Prague.
Identity
Identity
Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský is recorded as having received Officer of the French Order of Academic Palms.

Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský
Zdeněk Nejedlý (1946): Dějiny opery Národního divadla I. p. 496-497

Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský (midst), head of Opera of Divadlo na Vinohradech, with the first opera ensemble in 1907
Unknown author Unknown author, re-photo by David Sedlecký · Publikace Čtvrtstoletí Městského divadla na Král. Vinohradech, jubilejní sborník. Praha: Divadlo na Vinohradech, 1932, str.17
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1931
Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský died at Prague.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Vienna.
Birth place
Prague.
Death place
Compositions
• Illustration — The front page of the "Songs" cycle by Ludvík Čelanský The compositions of Ludvík Čelanský are deeply influenced by Romantic music. He wrote concertant melodramas in the style of Zdeněk Fibich. His only opera, Kamilla, represents an attempt to unite melodrama and singspiel. During his time in Paris, his music was influenced by French impressionism. His compositions from this period are quite colourful. Some of his scores (e.g. Symphony "From My Life") remained in Kiev and in Paris. Čelanský also experimented with film music in his later years. Opera • Kamilla (published 1897); in 1 act with libretto by the composer Orchestra • Premiéra na vsi (Premiere in the Countryside), Overture (1900) • Vzkříšení Polsky (Resurrection of Poland), Overture (1904) • Symphony "From My Life" in five movements • Duchovní vývoj člověka dle starého zákona (The Spiritual Evolution of Man According to Ancient Law), Symphonic Trilogy (1915–1918) • Adam • Noe (Noah) • Mojžíš (Moses) • Hymnus slunci (Hymn to the Sun), Symphonic Poem (1919) Songs • Nálady (Moods) (1895); words by the composer • Melancholické písně (Melancholic Songs) (1895); words by Jaroslav Kvapil • Ten Songs on Words of Josef Václav Sládek and Karel Želenský (1896) • Twelve Songs on Words of František Serafínský Procházka (1902) • Ukolébavka (Lullaby) for Voice and Orchestra (1904) • Píseň o matičce (A Song about Mother) Chorus • Vlast (Homeland) • Srbské kolo (Serbian Round Dance) Melodramas • Žebrák (The Beggar) (1894) • Země (Earth) (1894) • Balada o duši Jana Nerudy (Ballad on the Soul of Jan Neruda) (1895) • Česká píseň (Czech Song) (1902) • Bratři (Brothers) (1903) • Zvony (Bells) (1903); words by Edgar Allan Poe Sacred • Pět duchovních písní (Five Sacred Songs, 1916) • Te Deum (1916)
Legacy
Čelanský concentrated his interest mainly on Slavic composers of Romantic music. He was particularly renowned as a conductor of Smetana's symphonic cycle Má vlast (My Country), Dvořák's Slavonic Dances and the works of Zdeněk Fibich. Čelanský was a talented opera conductor, but his potential was not fully realized. He contributed to the Czech and international musical culture as an organizer and founder of orchestras and music institutions.
Primary material
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reference work
- “Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q255685: Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský
General reference · Wikidata
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský, revision 1343415161 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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