Franz Simandl

Franz Simandl ( born August 1, 1840 in Pladen, Bohemia, † December 15, 1912 in Vienna, but also: František Simandl ) was a Czech- Austrian double bassist and music educator.

Life

He studied from 1855 to 1862 with Josef Hrabě at the Prague Conservatory, which enjoyed international for his outstanding bass - class reputation in the 19th century. After graduating Simandl moved to Vienna, where he was first bassist of the kk Made Hofoper career and in the orchestra board he was much more active years. In addition, he had the double bass professor at the Conservatory of the Society of Friends of Music for over forty years, from 1869 until 1910.

Work

Simandl was in his time as one of the leading virtuoso on his instrument in German speaking countries: contemporary accounts, he was in terms of playing technique and sound quality its internationally acclaimed competitor, the Italian Giovanni Bottesini, at least as good. Because of its excellent reputation it was, whose operas of Richard Wagner often contain particularly technically challenging passages for the low strings, appointed as first double bass player in the orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival.

International reputation and enjoys Simandl today by written by him Textbooks Latest method of Contra Bass - play, 30 Etudes for Double Bass and Gradus ad Parnassum, which also in the present nor in much of Europe, but also in most music schools in the United States for basic training be used the instrument. His technical approach uses the first, second and fourth fingers of the left hand (the third and fourth act together) for gripping the strings in the deep regions of the fingerboard and dividing this into different layers. The second volume of the bass method deals with the game in the thumb position, with the solo game in high registers and with harmonics.

Simandl preferred instrument was a bass from the workshop of the North Italian violin maker Giovanni Paolo Maggini from the early 17th century.