Konštantín Hudec

Prof. Konštantín Hudec was a Slovak musicologist, educator, publicist, and organizer of musical life. A student of Prof. Dobroslav Orel, he was one of the founders and co-creators of modern Slovak musicology.

After completing his studies at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava (PhDr.), he continued his education in Regensburg and Munich under Prof. Sandberger, focusing primarily on the study of musical culture in the 16th and 17th centuries.

As part of his research abroad, he also traveled to Budapest, where he searched archives and libraries for sources related to the history of Slovak music.

In 1938, he completed his habilitation in Bratislava with the work Ján Levoslav Bella. Following the retirement of Dobroslav Orel, Hudec assumed leadership of the Department of Musicology, a role he held until his premature death.

Konštantín Hudec devoted himself especially to the history of Slovak music, authoring works such as Kremnickí trubači  (The Trumpeters of Kremnica, 1937), Vývin hudobnej kultúry na Slovensku (The Development of Musical Culture in Slovakia, 1940), and Hudba v Banskej Bystrici do 19. storočia (Music in Banská Bystrica up to the 19th Century, 1941); and to Slovenská ľudová pieseň (Slovak folk song, with publications including Slovak Folk Song, 1949) and Slovenské ľudové piesne I. (Slovak Folk Songs I, 1950).

"He searched through archives, museums, and libraries for sources and documents to better understand the past of our music, and was almost the only one to travel to our villages in search of living folklore." — R. Rybarič, In Slovenská hudba, 1961

In addition to his scholarly and pedagogical work, Konštantín Hudec for a time also served as the head of the State Institute for Folk Song (ŠÚĽP) within the Slovak Central State Archive, and he was likewise engaged in journalistic activities. He gave lectures on Bratislava Radio and contributed music reviews and studies to journals such as Elán, Slovenský rozhlas, Kultúra, and others.