Würfel, Wenzel Wilhelm (actually, Václav Vilem)
Würfel, Wenzel Wilhelm (actually, Václav Vilem)
Würfel, Wenzel Wilhelm (actually, Václav Vilem), Bohemian pianist, conductor, teacher, and composer; b. Pláñany, near Kolin, May 6, 1790; d. Vienna, March 23, 1832. He made tours as a pianist while still a child, then was a pupil of Tomaschek in Prague. In 1815 he went to Warsaw as prof, of organ and thoroughbass at the Cons., numbering Chopin among his students. After conducting at the Kärnthnertor-theater in Vienna (1824-26), he toured as a pianist. His opera Rübezahl was first performed in Prague on Oct. 7, 1824, with excellent success, and enjoyed popularity for some years. He also wrote the opera Der Rotmantel (1826), many piano pieces in a bravura style, and pedagogical pieces for keyboard.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn /Dennis McIntire