Celebrations Book 4

Syrinx
When David Heyes requested works for double bass inspired by Debussy’s Syrinx for the 2018 centenary of his death, I thought of what honouring Debussy could mean to me. I’ve listened to Syrinx since I was young, returning over and over to reside for a while in its shimmering beauty, and I can’t think of any tribute that can finish the job of honouring a composer capable of such work. Writing in the style of Debussy would seem natural, but it is not natural for me, though I wish it were. So, it seemed best to listen again, and then to sit down to write what came to mind and heart. I’d like to think there are moments in my composition which are intersections of Debussy’s Syrinx and myself, moments that show the mark which his music has left on me. Syrinx is small in scope, just under two minutes, and written in G minor for unaccompanied double bass.
PREMIERE: Sunday 18 March 2018 at Green Hammerton Hall (York, UK) by David Heyes (double bass)

Lost in Thought (A Turetzky Tribute)
Lost in Thought was composed to honour of Bertram Turetzky, on his eighty-fifth birthday and is a short piece, not quite one minute and a half, for unaccompanied double bass. After listening to recordings of Bert Turetzky playing so beautifully, I found myself feeling somewhat sombre, and, as the title says, lost in thought. This piece is how I found my way back.

Leonardo’s Birds (Da Vinci 500)
“I began this project by reading about Leonardo da Vinci in Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari. There’s hardly anything about Leonardo’s life and works that doesn’t mark him as singular, but I was particularly stuck by his compassion for all living things. Vasari wrote: “When passing by places where birds were being sold, he would often take them out of their cages with his own hands, and after paying the seller the price that was asked of him, he would set them free in the air, restoring to them the liberty they had lost. Great tenderness in a man of such genius is humbling.” I can’t help but wonder if, when he wrote in his Notebooks, “While I thought I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die,” he thought of those birds.
PREMIERE: Thursday 2 May 2019 at Silk Mill West, Frome, Somerset by David Heyes (double bass)

Self-Portrait (December 2020)
This piece was written in response to David Heyes’ call for self-portrait compositions. Written near the end of a difficult year, Self Portrait, December 2020 captures a moment of meditation. Since I am prone to quiet reflection, it could be called a fair likeness, at least at this moment in time. The piece is very slow, but very brief, lasting just a minute and a half.

Among the Roses (Gary Karr @ 80)
Among the Roses was written as a tribute to Gary Karr, one of the world’s premiere double bassists, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. I do not play the double bass myself, and nor have I met Gary Karr, but I have listened to his incomparable playing with great pleasure. There is so much that goes into music, other than study and dedication. So much of a musician or composer’s life that outsiders rarely see lives through their music. When I read that Gary Karr loved gardening and, in fact, had a rose created for him, I wanted to touch upon the tenderness that goes into creating a beautiful garden. Among the Roses is two minutes in length.

For the Sword Outwears its Sheath (In memory of Tony Osborne)
When invited to write a piece honouring the brilliant composer and performer, Tony Osborne (1947-2019), I didn’t think of paying homage to his own work and his style, but rather, to the fact that he did live a life in music, contributing so much in recordings and literature. So, I honour him by writing down what comes to me, as he wrote what came to him. This is a simple, mostly meditative piece, and when David Heyes suggested I look to poetry for a title, this line from Lord Byron’s poem, So We’ll Go No More a Roving, came to me: For The Sword Outwears Its Sheath.

Tranquility (François Rabbath @ 90)
Tranquility is for solo double bass, with a duration of around two minutes and forty seconds. Rhythmic variation in the piece is kept at a minimum, creating a feeling of openness and constancy. It was written in honour of the great François Rabbath, whose beautiful playing reaches the heart and I thank him for his music with this small offering.

The Empty Studio (Da Vinci 500)
I think the idea of writing a piece to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death provides a special inspiration. In my own life, music and art have been very closely linked, and I suspect that the same is true in some way for many, if not all composers. There is so much tribute to be paid, to an incredible genius, and to a human being who carried the weight of that genius with uncommon grace. In this piece, I imagined Leonardo da Vinci’s studio moments after his death, empty of life, yet echoing still with his last footsteps, his last longings, his last dreams.
PREMIERE: Saturday 4 May 2019 at St Margaret’s Church, Hinton Blewett, Somerset by David Heyes (double bass)

Reflections on a Celebration (David Heyes @ 60)
This short piece was written in honour of David Heyes’ sixtieth birthday in 2020. It seems more contemplative than celebratory, but after the champagne is done, quieter thoughts take over, and a celebration of a different sort begins; one born of appreciation for life and beauty that every passing years burnishes and brightens. That is why I suggest that, although the piece is quiet and almost sombre in tone, it is to be played “singingly. Written in A minor, this piece is 60 seconds long.
PREMIERE: Sunday 21 July 2019 at Church Crookham Memorial Hall (Fleet, Hampshire) by Phil Parker (double bass)

Yet Still Steadfast (Teppo Hauta-aho & Frank Proto @ 80)
This was written to honour Teppo Hauta-aho and Frank Proto on the occasion of their eightieth birthdays. In the midst of a pandemic, celebrating such important milestones shifts the mind to what is enduring in life. The title is drawn from John Keats’ sonnet, Bright Star, Would I Were Steadfast As Thou Art, and reflects my desire to honour the celebrants by focusing on beauty which is always present and brings peace to the heart.

Four for František (to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of František Pošta)
1. Now Love’s Pained Feeling Gives Me Pause
This is a line drawn from a beautiful poem by Jaroslav Vrchlicky (1853-1912) entitled, “Metempsychosis.” I found this poem to be beautifully personal, yet transcendent at the same time. The last two stanzas show why he is considered one of the great Czech lyrical poets.

Before I simply lived. Now love’s pained feeling
gives me pause, to the top step I’ve been bidden,
all changes rung; my final goal reached nearly:
Might godliness now lift the mask, revealing
clearly what hence I’ve sensed, by smoke’s veil hidden,
or must I perish now, drawn void-ward merely
PREMIERE: 29 September 2019 at East Harptree Church (Somerset, UK) by David Heyes (double bass)

2. In Silence
This piece is loosely tethered to its D minor key and is about a minute in length. I’ve been moved by the beauty of Pošta’s playing, and, at the same time, saddened by the knowledge that is has ended. We have recordings, yes, but our longing inhabits the silence between the notes. I wrote this poem and the piece together over two days as a small tribute.

The music rises still and rings
quickening the breath–a call
to dream along and live, it sings
as if what rises will not fall,
as if the hands that slid the bow
and pressed warm strings released their hold
to rest and lay the heart aside
and, masters still, to new unfold
in silence all we’d never know,
and all that might have been confide.

3. In Shadowy Woods
This short piece was inspired by the excerpt from “May” by Karel Hynek Macha (1810-1836), The poem begins with youthful love’s expectation of, yet in just the ninth line, that joy is overshadowed by the foreboding:

In shadowy woods the burnished lake
Darkly complained a secret pain,
By circling shores embraced again;
And heaven’s clear sun leaned down to take
A road astray in azure deeps,
Like burning tears the lover weeps

4. Will You Dance?
In thinking about old Bohemia, I pictured the colourful, wild dancing that must have taken place in countless small villages to the joy of all. How many must have reached out to a partner, in a frenzy of movement driven by the wonderful music? Yet, behind it all lay true, tender feelings, a yearning to find a life-long partner, someone with whom to share the quieter days.

Two Pieces for David
1. Repose in Uncertain Times
2. On the Wind
I wrote these two short pieces as a small Christmas present for David Heyes as a way to thank him for encouraging me, and so many others, to write for the double bass and to find out what a beautiful and expressive instrument it can be. Both were composed in December 2020. David has had a part in the creation of so many works for the double bass that would never have come into being otherwise, and that is no small contribution. It’s both an honour and delight to know him.

Song for the Early Sun (to celebrate the 80th birthday of Humphrey Clucas)
When writing Song for the Early Sun, I had in mind the endless possibilities that present with each new day. Whatever the days brings, the light is a constant that cannot fail us. This piece was written to honour Humphrey Clucas on his 80th birthday.