Franz Simandl
Franz Simandl (born August 1, 1840 in Blatná , Bohemia , † December 13, 1912 in Vienna ; also: František Simandl ) was a Czech-Austrian double bass player and music teacher.
Life
From 1855 to 1862 he studied with Josef Hrabě at the Prague Conservatory , which enjoyed an international reputation in the 19th century for its outstanding double bass class. After graduating, Simandl moved to Vienna, where he made a career as first double bass player at the kk Hofoper and was an active member of the orchestra's board of directors for many years. In addition, he held the double bass professorship at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde for over forty years, from 1869 to 1910.
plant
At the time, Simandl was considered one of the leading virtuosos on his instrument in the German-speaking world: according to contemporary reports, he was at least equal to his internationally celebrated competitor, the Italian Giovanni Bottesini , in terms of playing technique and sound quality . Due to his excellent reputation, Richard Wagner , whose operas often contain technically particularly demanding passages for the low strings, made him the first double bass player in the orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival .
To this day, Simandl enjoys worldwide fame through the textbooks he wrote Latest Method of Contrabass Playing , 30 Etudes for Double Bass and Gradus ad Parnassum , which are still used today in large parts of Europe, but also at most music schools in the USA for basic training used with the instrument. His technical approach uses the first, second and fourth fingers of the left hand (the third and fourth act together) to grip the strings in the deep regions of the fingerboard and divide it into different positions. The second volume of the double bass school deals with playing in the thumb position, with playing solo in high registers and with flageolets .
Simandl's preferred instrument was a double bass from the workshop of the northern Italian violin maker Giovanni Paolo Maggini from the early 17th century.
literature
- Ch. Fastl: Simandl Franz. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 12, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2001-2005, ISBN 3-7001-3580-7 , p. 274.
- Alfred Planyavsky , Herbert Seifert: History of the double bass . Schneider, Tutzing 1984, ISBN 978-3795204266
- Friedrich Warnecke: Ad infinitum. The double bass. Its history and its future. Problems and their solution for enhancing the double bass playing . Supplemented facsimile reprint of the original edition from 1909, edition intervalle, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-938601-00-0 .
- Christian Fastl: Simandl, Franz. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7001-3067-8 .
Web links
- Literature and other media by and about Franz Simandl in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic
- Literature by and about Franz Simandl in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Simandl, Franz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Simandl, František |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czech-Austrian double bass player, music teacher and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 1, 1840 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Blatná , Bohemia |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 13, 1912 |
| Place of death | Vienna |