Czech performing arts : Czech double bass school at the turn of the millennium and its significant historical figures
Abstract
This monograph represents a great thanks and acknowledgement to Czech double bass teachers and a tribute to the Czech double bass school which played a significant role in the development of music instrument teaching in the Czech Republic. The monograph maps the music college establishment in the country and the activities of several contemporary music school teachers and double bass players, bearers and successors of the tradition of this Czech instrumental school. The monographs content brings an interesting finding to the foreground; during the past thirty years, only three teachers of double bass playing have been active at music schools in Prague and Brno, out of which all three are the Czech double bass school successors: Jiří Hudec, Radomír Žalud and Miloslav Jelínek (teachers also at the Faculty of Arts in Ostrava) University). The fourth person to pay tribute to in this monograph is Miloslav Gajdoš - an internationally recognized pedagogue, whose students are not only Czech instrumentalists, but also Radoslav Šašina, a teacher of double bass at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. His student graduate Ján Krigovský, who works at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, also represents a continuation of this Czech double bass school lineage. All the above-mentioned educators provided detailed data on their artistic and pedagogical activities, which are described in the third chapter of the monograph.
The publication represents an original documentary and testimony about important double bass players from the turn of the millennium. The monograph is dedicated to four important teachers from the Czech Republic - Jiří Hudec, Radomír Žalud, Miloslav Jelínek and Miloslav Gajdoš. The author had a rare opportunity to look into the private and professional lives of these unique personalities and prepare a consensual documentary about their life journey. Based on interviews and consultations, chapters on the personal and artistic life of these pillars of the Czech double bass and pedagogical school we are able to present a comprehensive and complete insight into the Czech double bass school. Thanks to their cooperation, professional approach and helpful attitude, it was possible to include photographs and commentary on their methodology and thus provide important study material for future generations of double bass players. The monograph's final chapter gives an excerpt of unique documents from archival research, including previously unpublished professional works of teachers, valuable photographs from their private archives and personal memories of important personalities of the Czech double bass school.