Mišek, Adolf
Adolf Mišek was born in Modletín (Bohemia) on 29 August 1875, the son of a weaver and bandmaster. He studied double bass with František Simandl at the Vienna Conservatoire from 1890-94 and from 1898-1900 was a bassist with the Vienna Hofopernorchester (Court Opera Orchestra), and subsequently with the Vienna Philharmonic. He maintained his Czech connections however by conducting a number of Czech choirs and orchestras in Vienna during these years. From 1910-1914 Mišek taught double bass at the Neue Wiener Konservatorium (New Vienna Conservatoire) but when the First Czech Republic was established in 1918, after the end of the First World War, he resigned from the orchestra and returned to Prague, where he lived for the rest of his life. He was appointed soloist of the National Theatre Orchestra (1920-34) in Prague and spent the last twenty years of his life as a freelance composer, teacher and bassist. Mišek died in Prague on 20 October 1955. Mišek composed three sonatas for double bass and piano and the first two have become standard repertoire for almost every conservatoire, university and professional double bassist. Sonata No.1 (Op.5) was published in 1909 and Sonata No.2 (Op.6) in 1911, and it is likely they were written during the early years of the 20th-century and are completely different in terms of style, composition and scope.
Mišek is pronounced MEE-SHEK