Camille Saint-Saens' Elephant is a delightful miniature from The Carnival Of The Animals and is one of the few works that are attractive to learners and accomplished players alike. Its many musical and technicalchallenges have earned it a permanent place in the teaching repertoire yet it offers soloists a welcome opportunity to demonstrate their prowess and espirit even in the low register.The ease with which a greatcomposer accurately and skilfully probes the idiosyncracies of this largest of string instruments for expressive purposes - a combination of features seldom encountered in the double bass repertoire - is truly impressive. All themore astonishing therefore that the Elephant although widely known is relatively rarely heard in the concert hall.This Urtext edition of the score has been edited with critical commentaries as well as fingeringand bowing of the double bass part by Tobias Glockler. The accompaniment is notated in E flat and F and so the double bass can perform using either solo tuning or orchestra tuning.

SOLO TUNING See RM722 for Orchestral Tuning The 'Dragonetti Concerto' was first published in 1925 by Alphonse Leduc in Paris as No.23 of Edouard Nanny's 'Les Classiques de la Contrebasse'. For many years no one questioned its authenticity, but as more research into Dragonetti's original works for double bass was made, concerns began to arise. Many of Dragonetti manuscripts survive in the British Library, thanks to Vincent Novello who donated them in 1849, three years after Dragonetti's death and on Novello's retirement to Italy, but there is no original manuscript for this work. As bassists began to edit and perform a wide range of Dragonetti's works it became clear that this concerto bore little resemblance to any of his other pieces. The work does, however, have many similarities to Nanny's Concerto for double bass, also to his other solo works and even studies from his Method. Eventually most people came to the conclusion that this work is not an original work by the great Venetian bassist but is by Edouard Nanny, and in the style of the late 18th-century. Having said that, this is still a charming and evocative work which has much player and audience appeal and is very easy on the ears. Many of the challenges for the soloist are technical and, almost a century after its first publication, it is still as popular as ever. Published in 1925, the first movement was performed at London's Wigmore Hall on 15 April the following year by Victor Watson (double bass) and Sidney Crooke (piano), and was described a 'Contrabass Concerto by Dragonetti-Nanny. ERRATA: Piano part: page 8 (1st movement), bar 87 - final chord of bar in right hand should be D/E/G# - a dominant 7th chord in A major Edouard Nanny was an important French double bassist and teacher, also composing and transcribing many works for double bass. He was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 24 March 1872 and he studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Professor Verrimst, also teaching there from 1920-1940. He performed often as a soloist, also working as an orchestral bassist with many orchestras such as the Paris Symphony Orchestra, Concerts Lamoureux and the Orchestra de l'Opera Comique, and in 1901 he founded the Henry Casadeus Society of Old Instruments, chaired by Camille Saint-Saens, and intended to revive the works from the past centuries. Nanny's Method for double bass is still in print, over 90 years since its first publication and both volumes contain a wealth of excellent technical studies and exercises which are as relevant today as they were in the 1920s. His other volumes of studies are mostly out of print and Recital Music plan to reprint some of his orginal works for double bass, transcriptions and educational music to keep alive the name of Edouard Nanny into the 21st-century. Edouard Nanny died in Paris in 1942.

24 Easy Pieces From 5 Centuries Using Half To 3Rd Position. The 'Easy Concert Pieces' series presents a varied selection of easy concert pieces for double bass and piano from the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods through to the modern era. To facilitate choosing individual pieces for performance and auditions at music schools, competitions or examinations these pieces have been ordered according to level of musical and technical difficulty. Book 1 (ED 22551) contains pieces in half and first position. Pieces in each position and some using position changes are presented from each era. Simple techniques such as portato, staccato and legato bowing are introduced along with pizzicato, using rudimentary dynamics ranging from piano to forte, crescendo and decrescendo and simple phrasing. The pieces selected here are varied in character with memorable tunes, a few different time signatures and simple rhythms. / Niveau : Facile / Recueil / Contrebasse et Piano

The complete resource for the Grade 3 double bassist. Par . La série Grade By Grade (De degré par degré) tire sa substance du catalogue classique, contemporain et pédagogique riche et varié de Boosey

This delightful encore for Double Bass and Piano accompaniment is a spoof of Saint-Saens' well known tune from Carnival of the Animals. Talented American Bassist David Walter composed and dedicated this piece to Fred Zimmerman. A challenging piece suitable for grade 7 Double Bassists. AMEB (Australian Syllabus) 2004

A Tear-A beautiful and poignant lament which is ideally suited to the double bass. Originally for cello this new edition returns to the cello version [Theme & Variations] adding an extended (but optional) piano introduction and demonstrates the dark and soulful colours of the solo double bass. Long flowing phrases allow the intermediate bassist to demonstrate both musical and technical accomplishment in an accessible range of the instrument. The soulful and wistful melody transcribes beautifully for double bass allowing the instrument to display its bel canto and lyrical capabilities. A three bar section towards the end of the piece is playable as written or anocatve higher giving bassists the opportunity to play high harmonics within a beautiful and evocative melody. This is an ideal study or recital work with its supportive and pulsing accompaniment and has been one of Recital Music's bestsellers since it was published. Une Larme is also available for solo double bass and string orchestra accompaniment - please contact the publishers for further details. Grade 7 - Trinity-Guildhall / ABRSM / LCM / MTB Exams (www.mtbexams.com) 

Arranger : David Heyes The Transcriptions Series series Recital Music publish a wealth of original works for double bass alongside a popular, accessible and growing range of transcriptions for bassists of all ages and abilities. Most transcriptions published by Recital Music are by David Heyes, who has a successful and proven track record when arranging for double bass. Czardas for violin and piano is Monti's only famous work, believed to have been composed in the early years of the 20th-century, and has been composed for almost every instrument, every instrumental combination, and performed by every gipsy orchestra or ensemble. The slow rhapsodic introduction quickly leads into the main theme which is full of rhythmic fire and gipsy passion. A slow section, primarily in double stops, is then repeated in high harmonics before a brief return of the fast viruosic music which leads into a reprise of the Czardas material, but now in the tonic major. A fast and energetic finale brings the piece to a rousing and successful conclusion. This exciting new arrangement by David Heyes offers musical and technical challenges in equal measure and the edition includes accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tunings. An arrangement for double bass quartet is in preparation. Italian composer, conductor and violinist, Vittorio Monti was born in Naples on 6 January 1868 and died on 20 June 1922. He studied at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella with F. Pinto (violin) and Paolo Serrao (composition) and moved to Paris in 1886 where he studied violin with Camillo Sivori, Paganini's most famous pupil. For many years Monti was a member of the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris, also conducting the orchestra on occasions, and composed ballets, operettas and instrumental music during his years in the French capital.

Piano reduction-Following Dittersdorf (HN 759) and Hoffmeister (HN 721) Johann Baptist Vanhal and his sole Double-Bass concerto add a further highlight to the classical Bass literature in the Henle catalogue. The virtuosowork was transmitted only in a copy of a part owned by the famous Double-Bass player Johannes Sperger (1750 1812) and found in his estate which raises a few questions on account of the many later additions in the solo part(especially concerning the octave transpositions). In this Urtext edition Tobias Glöckler proposes a solution to this dilemma with a musical text that is outstandingly well-prepared for the performing artist. ThePiano reduction is printed in two keys (C and D major) which allows for performances in the solo and orchestral tuning or at will. Moreover an additional part written in fingering notation has been specially designed for usewith the 'Viennese tuning' customary in Vanhal's days. It allows players to use this resonant historical tuning immediately without tedious retraining.

Beginning to Intermediate Bass Solos-Virtuoso David Walter plays each of these beginning-level solos on double bass. Then you join the professional accompanist and play the same solos in his place. Follow in the footsteps of the master! Includes a high-quality printed music score annotated with performance suggestions and a compact disc with complete versions (with soloist) followed by piano accompaniments to each piece (minus the soloist.) Performed by David Walter double bass Accompaniment: Judith Olson piano

The Suzuki philosophy is based upon the idea that children can learn music in the same manner they do their native language through repetitive listening. This listening is then followed up with 1) Individual instruction with a trained Suzuki teacher 2) Group lessons on a bi-weekly / weekly basis 3) Parent Involvement 4) Encouragement. Students begin lessons as early as two years old and through repetition of small and enjoyable steps begin building a music vocabulary.

This new publication replaces the old Latham edition (now out of print) - popular title on both ABRSM and TG double bass syllabuses (grade 7).Dennis Leogrande writes:I began writing the melody first although every piece begins differently. I wanted to begin with a sound that for me is very characteristic of the bass that being the ½ step slide from G# to A. Looking throughout the piece you will notice other slides ie. bars 1 3 5 7 12 14 16 18 38 58 114 116 18 120 123 125 and 127. Please don't forget to notice the grace note slide in measure 100. These are the melodic motifs that give the piece its character and act as hooks(memorable ideas) for the listener to latch on to. Once I began writing the melody it just grew organically from the original idea. I hope you feel the same organic growth. The shifting harmonic tonalities (between D major and D minor) seem to ask the question 'May I?' and keep the listener involved in trying to answer the question. The jazz style keeps the 'question' light hearted a little 'tongue in cheek.' However playing this piece requires attention to these details and a great deal of musicianship. It's the fine musician who understands both the music and the instrument who can make a difficult and complicated piece sound easy light and fun. Oh and yes please enjoy!

If you can play just a few notes on the double bass then you're ready for this book. These twenty-two imaginative little pieces for the absolute beginner include traditional tunes classics and specially composed melodies all with attractive piano accompaniments.The pieces are arranged progressively so you can hear the step-by-step improvement in your playing as well as simply enjoying the music.