Karl Bendl was a Czech composer, conductor and teacher. He studied music at the Prague Organ School. Subsequently, he became an opera conductor in Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris and Prague. From 1894 he taught composition at the Prague Conservatory. He was a composer of popular art songs (such as “The Song of the Lark” and “The Gypsy Song”) and choral pieces consistent with the traditions of Smetana. Bendl also wrote several operas, one operetta, one ballet, a number of cantatas, as well as orchestral, chamber and piano compositions.
