Elegia No.1

Double Bass & Piano
Composer: Giovanni Bottesini

Product code:

RMD1046
Publisher:

£6.00

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Description

Elegia No.1 was published in Bottesini’s Grande méthod complète de contrebasse (c.1869) 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 one of his most attractive and accessible pieces for double bass.

Elegia No.1 is aimed at the intermediate bassist, offers musical and technical challenges in equal measure, and is an ideal ‘easy’ virtuoso work for bassists who are venturing into the higher reaches of the instrument. This edition returns to the version published in Bottesini’s Grande méthod complète de contrebasse, presumably corrected and edited by the composer.

The edition is published with piano accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tunings and also includes two double bass parts – the original bowings by the composer and a newly edited part by David Heyes.

Elegia No.1 is also available for solo double bass and string orchestra in both solo and orchestral tunings. dbbpublications.gumroad.com/l/elegiaorch

“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]

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Description

Elegia No.1 was published in Bottesini’s Grande méthod complète de contrebasse (c.1869) 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 one of his most attractive and accessible pieces for double bass.

Elegia No.1 is aimed at the intermediate bassist, offers musical and technical challenges in equal measure, and is an ideal ‘easy’ virtuoso work for bassists who are venturing into the higher reaches of the instrument. This edition returns to the version published in Bottesini’s Grande méthod complète de contrebasse, presumably corrected and edited by the composer.

The edition is published with piano accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tunings and also includes two double bass parts – the original bowings by the composer and a newly edited part by David Heyes.

Elegia No.1 is also available for solo double bass and string orchestra in both solo and orchestral tunings. dbbpublications.gumroad.com/l/elegiaorch

“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]

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More Info

EditorDavid Heyes
OrchestrationDouble Bass & Piano
Publishers numberRMD1046

Contents

About the Composer

Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) was the greatest double bass virtuoso of the 19th- century and many of his compositions for double bass are still at the heart of the solo repertoire today. He spent much of his life in the opera house, as conductor and composer, and his music is inspired by the lyrical, cantabile, and virtuosic pyrotechnics of 19th-century Italian opera. Bottesini was known as ‘the Paganini of the double bass’ and was one of the greatest musical superstars of his day.

About the Arranger

About the Editor

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.