Person details

Jan Dismas Zelenka

Johann Dismas Jan Lukáš

Zelenka, Jan Dismas (1679-1745). Czech composer. From a provincial Czech background, Zelenka was taught music first by his schoolmaster father and then at the Jesuit Clementinum in Prague. In c.1710 he moved to Dresden where, except for a period of 4 years from 1715 to 1719, he continued his education and occupied a series of music posts, initially as violone player to Baron Hartig and then as a composer and later Kapellmeister to the Dresden Court. He re-visited Prague briefly in 1723. His substantial creative output, characterized by its originality of invention, harmonic language and mastery of counterpoint, spans many of the musical genres of the day.