Josef Proksch was a Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of German descent

Ethnic German

Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...

.

Proksch, who became blind at the age of 17, was a pupil of Jan Antonín Koželuh

Jan Antonín Koželuh

Jan Antonín Koželuh was a renowned Bohemian composer from Velvary. He was a pupil of Josef Seger. He studied in Vienna and was a concert master in St. Vitus Cathedral for thirty years; his work includes both church and concert works...

. In 1830, Proksch opened the Musikbildungsanstalt (Music Academy) in Prague. His teaching method of having several students play simultaneously during piano lessons was continued for over a hundred years. His most famous student was Bedřich Smetana

Bedrich Smetana

Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...

, whom Prosch taught piano and music theory

Music theory

Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...

 from 1843 to 1847.

His daughter, Marie Proksch

Marie Proksch

Marie Proksch was a Czech pianist, music educator and composer.-Biography:Marie Proksch was the daughter of blind pianist Josef Proksch who taught music at Bedrich Smetana. Proksch was born in Prague, where she studied music under her father...

, was also a well-known pianist and composer.

Selected works

Besides pedagogical works for piano, Proksch wrote a concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

 for three pianos, piano sonata

Piano sonata

A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...

s, masses

Mass (music)

The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...

, and cantata

Cantata

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....

s, and adapted numerous orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

l works to four to eight pianos for use in his lessons.

• Versuch einer rationellen Lehrmethode im Pianoforte-Spiel – 50 volumes, pedagogical work (1841–1864)
• Die Kunst des Ensembles im Pianoforte-Spiel – 7 volumes, pedagogical work (1859)