Josef Franzl was an important hornist in the U.S. in the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in Czechoslovakia and studied horn with Anton Janousek at the Prague Conservatory. Before emigrating to the United States he appeared as a soloist in Czechoslovakia and Paris. According to his obituary he made his debut in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 1905 he toured as solo horn with Frederick Neil Innes' famous Concert Band. He was for many years a soloist with the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch, the New York Chamber Music Society, the Kneisel Quartet, the Mannes Trio, the Georges Barrère Ensemble of Wind Instruments and the Columbia Broadcasting System Concert Orchestra. He also played during summers with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and also performed in the orchestra for operas produced at the New York City Center.

Mr. Franzl taught at the Julliard Graduate School, Institute of Musical Arts, the National Orchestra Association, and for eleven years was head of the horn department of the Dalcroze School of Music in Manhatten.

The photo portrait at the right also appears as a plate in The Orchestra and Its Instruments (facing page 106), by Esther Singleton published by The Symphony Society of New York in 1917.