Description

Elegia was first published in Bottesini’s Method for Double Bass to illustrate the lyrical capabilities of the instrument, and was rumoured to be the …composer’s favourite work. It has been recorded more than any other work by Bottesini and is his most attractive piece for bass. This is ideal for any bassist of about Grade 8+ level who is interested to learn about the entire range of the double bass and it has proved very popular with adventurous young bassists. An ideal ‘easy’ virtuoso work for students who are venturing into the higher reaches of the instrument. The edition is published with guitar accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tunings. “How he bewildered us by playing all sorts of melodies in flute like harmonics, as though he had a hundred nightingales caged in his double bass… I never wearied of his consummate grace and finish, his fatal precision, his heavenly tone, his fine taste. One sometimes yearned for a touch of human imperfection, but he was like a dead shot; he never missed what he aimed at, and he never aimed at less than perfection.” [H.Haweis, 1888]