Bedřich Diviš Weber

Karlovy Vary – 25 December 1842, Prague),[1] also known by the German form of his name, Friedrich Dionys (or Dionysius) Weber, was a Bohemian composer and musicologist primarily remembered as the first director of the Prague Conservatory, in whose foundation he played a leading role.

He became an advocate for the music of Mozart after meeting him in Prague, and his compositions bear evidence of this influence, being firmly rooted in that stylistic period.

As director of both the conservatory and the Prague Organ School, he effectively controlled higher musical education in the region,[2] so was arguably the most influential figure in the music of Prague at that time.

Despite his conservative style, he was happy to explore the possibilities of new instruments, such as his Variationen für das neu erfundene Klappenhorn (Variations for the newly invented keyed bugle).

He was a skilled writer for brass instruments[3] and had a particular interest in new developments; he was himself responsible for a form of chromatic horn.