Sonata No.3 in A minor

Double Bass & Guitar
Composer: Antonio Vivaldi

Product code:

RMD1222
Publisher:

£7.50

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Description

Vivaldi’s Sonata No.3 in A minor is in four movements, a slow and stately Largo which is characterised by an insistent dotted rhythm motif followed by a fast and lively Allegro with dance rhythms and effective staccato and legato contrasts. The third movement (Largo), a lyrical and cantabile ‘song without words’, emphasises the lyrical potential of the cello or double bass with long cantabile phrases in the middle register of the instrument. The final movement (Allegro) is a successful conclusion to the sonata, with a syncopated feature alongside a rhythmic and buoyant forward momentum. This edition for double bass and guitar by Bertram Turetzky is particularly successful, with a simple and supportive accompaniment, allowing the double bass to inhabit its own solo register.

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678 and died in Vienna in 1741. He was a vastly prolific composer of concertos, primarily for the violin, and operas and he was regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers across Europe during the 18th-century. Very little is known about his cello sonatas, nine have survived, which were originally written for cello and basso continuo. In the late 1730s six cello sonatas were published in Paris by Charles-Nicolas Le Clerc, to exploit the popularity of the instrument in France at the time, without the composer’s permission. It is thought that the publisher grouped together six of the sonatas, rather than they were written as a set, because three of them are in the key of B flat major, something a composer would rarely do. The manuscripts of six sonatas grouped as a set is owned by the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and there are other manuscripts in Naples and Germany, but very little is known about them and much is speculation.

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Description

Vivaldi’s Sonata No.3 in A minor is in four movements, a slow and stately Largo which is characterised by an insistent dotted rhythm motif followed by a fast and lively Allegro with dance rhythms and effective staccato and legato contrasts. The third movement (Largo), a lyrical and cantabile ‘song without words’, emphasises the lyrical potential of the cello or double bass with long cantabile phrases in the middle register of the instrument. The final movement (Allegro) is a successful conclusion to the sonata, with a syncopated feature alongside a rhythmic and buoyant forward momentum. This edition for double bass and guitar by Bertram Turetzky is particularly successful, with a simple and supportive accompaniment, allowing the double bass to inhabit its own solo register.

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678 and died in Vienna in 1741. He was a vastly prolific composer of concertos, primarily for the violin, and operas and he was regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers across Europe during the 18th-century. Very little is known about his cello sonatas, nine have survived, which were originally written for cello and basso continuo. In the late 1730s six cello sonatas were published in Paris by Charles-Nicolas Le Clerc, to exploit the popularity of the instrument in France at the time, without the composer’s permission. It is thought that the publisher grouped together six of the sonatas, rather than they were written as a set, because three of them are in the key of B flat major, something a composer would rarely do. The manuscripts of six sonatas grouped as a set is owned by the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and there are other manuscripts in Naples and Germany, but very little is known about them and much is speculation.

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EditorBertram Turetzky
OrchestrationDouble Bass & Guitar
Publishers numberRMD1222

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About the Composer

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About the Arranger

About the Editor

Born on 14 February 1933 in Norwich, Connecticut Bertram Turetzky took up the` tenor banjo at the age of 12 or 13, he switched to the guitar in high school, having fallen in love with jazz, and then changed to the double bass which he described as ‘…the core of everything, the glue between the harmony and the wind instruments.’ He subsequently studied at New York University and Hartt College of Music of the University of Hartford and slowly changed direction from jazz to everything else a bassist is asked to do – symphony, opera, contemporary, jazz, teaching and recitals, featuring many of the new works that were being written for him. For many years he combined his hectic performance schedule with teaching, first at the Hartt School of Music and from 1968 as Professor of Music at the University of California, San Diego, where he retired as ‘Distinguished Professor Emeritus’ only a few years ago.

Alongside his passion for contemporary music, Bert has also played a wealth of music from the 15th and 16th-centuries. He has transcribed works for every possible combination of instruments, but usually including the flute which was always played by his wife Nancy, and the husband and wife partnership have been fearless in their promotion of music for this rare instrumental duo. The vast majority of repertoire for flute and double bass today was either written for Bert and Nancy, or inspired by them. Bert has an interest in any repertoire which features the double bass and has championed many chamber works which are unknown or have been forgotten.

Bert has composed and transcribed many works for double bass. For some years his interest in the music of Domenico Dragonetti (1763-1846) was a passion and in the early 1960s he edited six waltzes for unaccompanied double bass by the great Venetian bassist. Although Bert Turetzky has spent most of his life playing modern music and creating every possible sound and noise that the double bass can produce, his own compositions, on the whole, are far more traditional and accessible. He has composed a whole range of music for double bass, probably for his own use or for his students, and into his 80s the desire to compose and perform are as strong as ever.
[David Heyes/June 2015]