Geissel, Jan [Johann]

Jan [Johann] Geissel was a Czech double bassist, teacher, and composer, born in Pardubice in 1859, who lived most of his life in Strasbourg and died there in 1919.

He wrote a number of works for double bass and his Concerto in A major Op.32 and Konzertstück Op.24 are still in print today, helping to keep his name alive a hundred years after his death. Several of his works have been recorded and his music successfully combines musical and technical challenges in equal measure, written in an accessible musical style and part of the rich heritage of music from the mid to late 19th-century.