Description

The 21st-century is awash with an amazing array of works for unaccompanied double bass, in all styles and idioms, with something to challenge and entertain …in equal measure. Works of great invention and musical worth now sit side by side with established solo, Repertoire, works which explore every sound, effect and noise possible on the double bass. The form has attracted many great composers and players to write for the double bass over the past sixty years, but it wasn’t always the case. Apart from Dragonetti’s 12 Waltzes for unaccompanied double bass, probably written in London in the early 1800s, but not published as a complete set until recent times, and two works by Czech bassist-composer Vojta Kuchynka (1871-1942), there are very few original works for unaccompanied double bass until we arrive at the great Bert Turetzky’s, Repertoire which began in the late 1950s. Bert was a key figure in persuading composers to write for the instrument, but was also interested to explore the myriad colours, textures, timbres and sounds available to the modern bassist and composer. One rare work for unaccompanied double bass which has fallen off the radar is the Konzertstuck Op.54 by Czech bassist-composer Gustav L?ska. Probably composed in the late 19th-century, although there is no evidence for this apart from a relatively late opus number, it is one of the very few works for unaccompanied double bass composed between the death of Dragonetti in 1846 and the ‘birth’ of the contemporary double bass in 1957, thanks to composer William Sydeman and bassist Bert Turetzky. Why so few works for solo double bass? Possibly for the same reason that the Bach Cello Suites were ignored for many decades and even exist with piano accompaniments from the 19th-century. Obviously music for solo double bass or solo cello were not seen as viable works for the concert hall at this time and hence a dearth of, Repertoire and lack of interest by composers.