“A Place in New England is played all in harmonics, apart from a few pizzicato open strings, and was composed for my younger students at …Wells Cathedral School. The overall effect is evocative and atmospheric, introducing harmonics at an early stage of study. It was premiered at the school on Sunday 4 November 2018 as part of ‘A Turetzky Tribute’ to celebrate the 85th birthday of my great friend Bertram Turetzky.
Bert was born in Norwich, Connecticut, and Norwich is known as ‘the rose of New England’. The title of the piece was chosen before I started to write the music. A particular photo of a white wooden church, surrounded by the amazingly coloured trees in Autumn was the inspiration for the piece and the music describes a day in any village or small town in New England. My trio and quartet arrangements in Harmonious Harmonics have been very successful and this is a work to compliment the shorter pieces.
Each bassist plays a limited number of harmonics – a chart is included with the score and parts – with basses 1-3 also playing in the higher thumb position. Basses 4-6 are the easier parts, playing the octave harmonics and in 4th position, and its 65 bars and contrasting moods and sound worlds create music that is expressive and haunting.” [David Heyes]
A Place in New England can be played by sextet or larger forces and introduces harmonics to younger players, adding an extra dimension to their technical skills.
Look Inside
David Heyes (b.1960) studied double bass with Laurence Gray and Bronwen Naish, later at the Royal College of Music in London, and completed his post-graduate studies in Prague with František Pošta (Principal Bass, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra). He has given recitals and masterclasses in 20 countries over the past few years and has been a juror at a number of international competitions, three times as chairman.
David’s collaborative work gained him a prestigious award from the David Walter Charitable Trust of New York for his pioneering activities as a soloist, teacher, publisher, and commissioner of new music for double bass and he works with composers throughout the world to expand the double bass repertoire by commissioning new music and by rediscovering forgotten ones. Since 1983 more than 700 works have been written for him, music from one to twenty basses and from beginner to virtuoso, and he has premiered ten contemporary concertos with orchestra.
David began to compose in 2013 and has had music performed and recorded in 29 countries across five continents. He is a D’Addario Performing Artist and has recently commissioned a solo double bass from British master-luthier Martin Penning.
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