Bohuslav Matej (Gottlob Mathäus)Cernohorsky (1684-1740) came from a family of teachers and musicians. In Prague he first studied theology and in 1703 entered the Franciscan monastery of St. Jacob. Since the Franciscan orders traditionally maintained close ties to Italy, he was enabled to study in Padua, where he also directed a choir at St. Anna's and gained the right to be called "magister musicae." As organist, under the name "padre boemo" he appears in 1715 in the reports of the monastery church of Assisi.
After 1728 it is known that he was again active in Prague. After 1739 he became music director, teacher and composer at the St. Jacob's Church in Prague. There he composed a respectable body of significant organ music, and also vocal and instrumental sacred music. His artistic personality created significant prerequisites for the development of the late Baroque and pre-Classical periods.
