Adalbert Michna

Adalbert Michna was born on 25 December 1847 in Brünn, then part of the Austrian Empire and today Brno in the Czech Republic.
From 1871 to 1873 Michna studied violin at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. After completing his studies, he entered the orchestra of the Vienna Court Opera in 1874 as a violist. At the same time he became a member of the Vienna Philharmonic, whose orchestral personnel were drawn from the Court Opera orchestra. Michna remained in this position throughout his professional career and retired in 1902, after almost three decades of service.
As a member of the Vienna Court Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic, Michna took part in the musical life of one of the most important orchestral institutions in Europe. During his long career he performed under conductors such as Hans Richter and Gustav Mahler.
Alongside his work as an orchestral musician, Michna was also active as a composer. In 1875 newspapers reported that he had composed an opera entitled Der Hauptmann von der Schaarwache. The work was based on the French stage play Le chevalier du guet and was performed the following year at the Deutsches Landes-Theater in Prague. A second opera, Der Alkalde, followed in 1878 and was staged at the Graz Provincial Theatre.
Michna also composed instrumental music. Among the surviving works attributed to him is a concerto for double bass, evidence that his compositional interests extended well beyond the theatre.
Around 1885 Michna was in contact with the writer Arthur Schnitzler. Schnitzler’s diaries show that Michna assisted him in writing down musical ideas, an intriguing indication of their personal acquaintance and of Michna’s practical musical skills beyond his orchestral duties.
After his retirement in 1902 Michna remained connected with the musical world of Vienna. In 1919 he was elected chairman of the pensioners’ association of the former Vienna Court Opera orchestra.

There is also evidence that an Adalbert Michna was a member of the Magischer Klub Wien, the Viennese society of amateur and professional magicians founded in 1908. Given the unusual name, the location and the chronology, it appears quite possible that this was the same Adalbert Michna who had formerly served as violist of the Court Opera. The Adalbert Michna associated with this circle is recorded as having died on 14 February 1932. A definitive documentary link between this death record and the musician has not yet been established, but the identification is highly plausible. If correct, Michna died at the age of 84.

Concerto for double bass

In my possession are several autograph manuscripts of Adalbert Michna’s “Concerto for Double Bass.” The work was composed in 1896 and dedicated to the distinguished double bassist Franz Simandl, a colleague and friend of the composer during their time in the orchestra of the Vienna Court Opera. Franz Simandl is known to have performed the concerto at least twice in the same year: once in the Ehrbar-Saal in Vienna and again at a benefit concert in Frain (today: Vranov nad Dyji).
The surviving material includes an autograph piano reduction of the concerto, which is unfortunately incomplete. The first two movements are preserved in full, while the final pages of the third movement are missing. In addition, the complete solo double bass part has been preserved, along with the orchestral parts for violin I, violin II, and viola. The collection also contains two handwritten piano reductions of the second movement, copied by the double bassist Eduard Madensky.