For this week, I thought I would listen to a piece that features an instrument that is rarely featured on the concert stage, so I ran a Google-search on “concertos for the double bass.” To be honest, I didn’t even know if any concertos for the double bass even existed. I figured that some must have been written at some point throughout the history of music -- and sure enough, some have -- but not very many. I found this article on Wikipedia, HERE, that listed various concertos, and I ultimately selected Giovanani Bottesini’s Concerto for Double Bass No. 2 in B Minor because (1) Bottesini was described as the “Paganini of the double bass” and (2) several articles I found stated that this concerto is “the most widely studied and performed work in the bass repertoire.” The concerto is relatively short -- only about 16 or 17 minutes long -- and it is divided into three movements: I. Allegro moderato II. Andante III. Allegro con fuoco I did enjoy the piece though I was somewhat disappointed -- and maybe unfairly so -- because much of the work focused on the instrument’s upper register. At times it sounded more like a work for cello. Hmm -- perhaps this should have been a concerto for cello and bass? I had hoped for more of a focus on the lower register of the bass. The Wikipedia article I linked above states, “The double bass has not been a popular choice for a solo instrument, mainly due to the difficulties of balancing the soloist and orchestra so that the former is not overshadowed by the orchestra's volume. The low register of the double bass makes it difficult to project; to help resolve this problem, many composers (most notably Bottesini) wrote solo parts in the high register of the instrument.” Of course, this concerto was written in 1845, so it’s predictably traditional in sound. Also, I’m not surprised that Bottesini composed so much of it in the higher reaches of the bass. In this way, he could show off the versatility of the instrument. However, I suspect that a featured work for the bass written today would take a more modern approach and really emphasize the lower and deeper ranges of the instrument.
Sooo...overall, I did enjoy Bottesini's concerto. I just wish it featured a bit more of the lower range of the bass because -- as we all know -- it's all about the bass!
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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