Julius Fučik
Julius Fučik (1872-1916)
was born in Prague, in the Czech Republic, during the time that the Czech republic was called Bohemia and was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
He was also a conductor of military bands, and for these he composed hundreds of marches, polkas, and waltzes.
He studied composition under
Dvořák. At age 19 he joined the army as a musician. Three years later he left the army to work as a bassoonist then as a choral conductor in Croatia. In 1897 he rejoined the army as a bandmaster, and in this period he wrote his most famous composition, 'Entrance of the Gladiators'.
In the following years he moved around the Austro-Hungarian Empire, working in Serbia, Hungary and Germany. His health suffered during the first two years of WW1, and he died in Berlin.