Informationen zu "Michael Montgomery and Lourdes C. Montgomery To Po?ta, To Prague Double Bass Solo"
Verlag: Recital Music
Verlagsnummer: RM1110
EAN: 9990093814817
Beschreibung
Michael Montgomery writes: 'I met Franti?ek Po?ta in the early 1980s when I
was newly married and still working on my doctorate at the University of
Miami under the tutelage of Dr. Lucas Drew. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,
on tour, had come to town to present a concert at the Dade County Auditorium
in the ?Little Havana? neighborhood of Miami and Lucas had arranged for the
principal bassist of the orchestra to come to his house and give a master
class for some of the bass students of his studio. At the time, I was largely
unaware of the significance of the position this wonderful bassist held and
the great double bass heritage that preceded him in that position.
Franti?ek Po?ta (1919-1991) had studied at the Prague Conservatory from 1934
to 1942, where he was a pupil of Old?ich Sorejs (1891-1953). Sorejs in turn
had been a student of Franti?ek ?ernì, an important figure in the history of
the Prague School of Double Bass. Franti?ek himself began teaching at the
Prague Conservatoire beginning in 1953. He had joined the Czech Philharmonic
Orchestra in 1939 and was its principal bassist from 1945 to 1985. We
bassists often say that the Prague School of Double Bass was founded by
Wenzel Hause (1763-1847) ? when the Prague Conservatoire was founded in 1811,
Hause was its first Double Bass Professor, and he taught there until 1845.
Among the many innovations and concepts consolidated in his 1828 Méthode
complète de contra-basse approuvée et adoptée par la direction du
Conservatoire de Prague are several we take for granted in our own time: that
the double bass should have four strings instead of three, and that they
should be tuned in fourths instead of fifths, that when playing in orchestra
we should be able to sound a very low ?E? on our instrument, etc. After Hause
left the conservatory, his student Josef Hrabé (1816-1870) took over the
position. There in Prague Hrabe taught Franti?ek ?ernì who in turn would
mentor Old?ich Sorejs, the teacher of Franti?ek Po?ta. So, unbeknownst to me
at the time, Mr. Po?ta sat in direct descendancy to the founder of the
Prague School of Bass Playing, Wenzel Hause. From 1855-1861 the famous
Franti?ek Simandl (1840-1912) was also a student of Hrab? in Prague. Simandl
went on to teach at the Vienna Conservatoire (1869-1910) where he wrote many
works for his own bass students, as was the norm for most of the Prague
School bassists. Perhaps the best known of his works is the 1874 instruction
manual entitled simply New Method of the Double Bass. It consolidated the
fingering system most bassists still use to this day. The innovations and
study materials of the Prague bassists did not simply stay in Prague, they
were, in fact, shared worldwide. For instance, while in Vienna Hungarian
bassist Ludwig Manoly studied with Simandl, He later moved to America and in
1892 became the New York Philharmonic?s principal bassist. Manoly?s pupil
Herman Reinshagen was the teacher of one Fred Zimmerman (1906-1967). Mr.
Zimmerman, assistant principal bass of the New York Philharmonic from
1930-1966, commissioned, transcribed, and edited a prodigious amount of music
for his students. He was even the editor of the 1964 Carl Fischer edition of
Mr. Simandl?s 'New Method'. He began teaching at Juilliard in 1935 where he
mentored of my own first teacher, Robert Rohe. Fred?s widow bequeathed Lucas
Drew (my second bass teacher) a considerable amount of work which had been
left unpublished at the time of his death in 1967. Lucas was able to bring
much of the valuable repertory to print. We bassists today have so very much
to be grateful for as we consider the legacy passed down to all bassists
through the Prague School of Playing. In appreciation of Franti?ek Po?ta's
place in that tradition, Lourdes and I humbly offer these several little
pieces written for my own young students ? it is our hope the legacy will
continue to flourish for years to come.' Double bassist Michael Montgomery,
a student of Robert Rohe and Lucas Drew, has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree,
played in the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra for many years, and now lives in
the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, where he teaches at the University of
Arkansas Fayetteville and the Suzuki Music School of Arkansas. His articles
have been published in American Suzuki Journal, Bass World, and Pastoral
Music. Born in Havana, Cuba, Lourdes C. Montgomery moved to the United
States at age five. She studied jazz piano at Miami-Dade Community College
with Sanford Gold and, at the University of Miami, music composition with Dr.
Dennis Kam as well as classical piano with Dr. Rosalina Sackstein. Many of
Lourdes' sacred and liturgical compositions are published by Oregon Catholic
Press, who also produced her CD entitled 'De La Cruz a la Gloria', and World
Library Publications. In 2008, Lourdes was honored to have her song
Bienaventurados ('The Beatitudes') was performed at the mass of Pope Benedict
XVI that was held at the National Stadium in Washington, D.C., and televised
nationally. In 2005 Lourdes became music director at St. Vincent de Paul
Church in the Ozark Mountains of NW Arkansas, where she now lives with her
double bassist husband Michael Montgomery.
