Sheet music by František Hertl

Frantisek Hertl was born on 18 April 1906 in the village of Zbuchy, near Plzen, and began to learn the double bass in his early teens. The 1920s and 30s were years of intense study for him, and from 1920-26 he studied double bass with Frantisek Cerny (1860-1940) at the Prague Conservatoire, subsequently becoming Principal Bass of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1929. Vaclav Talich, the revered director of the Czech Philharmonic was his conducting teacher, and he studied composition at the Prague Conservatoire from 1933-36 with Otakar Sin (1881-1943) and Jaroslav Ridky (1897-1956). It is said that the ongoing influence of Ridky is apparent in music of his music and Hertl subsequently combined Czech lyricism and melody with modern influences and styles.

Hertl was dedicated to improving the standard of double bass playing and in the early 1960s composed his ‘Method for Double Bass’, published in 1962 by Editio-Supraphon, which draws on the previous methods by Frantisek Simandl and Frantisek Cerny. ‘20 Studies for Double Bass’ was published in 1965 and both works became a core part of standard teaching material in Czech music school. He taught double bass, chamber music and conducting at the Prague Academy of Musical Arts for 22 years.