SKU: BT.YE0007

Born in Oxford in 1917, Francis Baines was a well-known and much respected professional double bass player. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Claude Hobday, where he later taught. Something of an eccentric,he immersed himself in early music at a time when few people were taking it seriously. He owned a beautiful Amati bass that he had restored as a violone, which it probably was originally, and he was a regular fixture as aprincipal player in a number of orchestras and ensembles that dedicated themselves to period performing, including those directed by Denys Darlow, with whom he broadcast and recorded frequently.

Besides playing thedoublebass, Francis Baines was an exponent of the treble viol and led the Jaye Consort of Viols which he founded. He also played several kinds of bagpipe and the hurdy-gurdy. As a composer he dabbled in many styles, one of hisgreatest claims to fame being that of writing for the popular Hoffnung concerts in the 1960s.

He was the author of a number of papers about the history of the double bass, sometimes arriving at scholarly conclusionsthat were colourful, if not always entirely accurate. He discovered the Giovannino del Violone sonatas, subsequently published by Yorke Edition, although today it is thought that they were probably not written for a 16' pitchinstrument at all. His edition of the Capuzzi double bass concerto, published by Boosey & Hawkes, was for many years one of the few solo works available for the instrument. This, however, he largely re-composed because hethought it could be improved: towards the end of his life he confessed that with hindsight he probably should have treated it differently.

Grounds was written in 1969 as a sort of party piece and was given to YorkeEdition in support of a drive to enlarge the repertoire for the instrument in a wide variety of styles. It was set on the syllabus of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music for many years.

Francis Baines died.

SKU: BT.MUSM570367320

English.

Sadie Harrison's Ha llristningsomra det  for solo Double Bass. Composed and published 2016. Duration c. 10 minutes The area of Tanumshede is situated on the south western coast of Sweden. Archaeologically, it is renowned for its unique series of Bronze Age rock carvings dating from between c. 1800 to 500 BCE. Incised into over 600 panels, the petroglyphs were originally situated along a 25 mile stretch of fjord coastline and as such there are many depictions of Hjortspring boats and seafaring activities. There are also scenes of hunting, agricultural and livestock farming and warring, with many armoured figures carrying swords, axes and shields. Whilst it is possible tointerpret most carvings as images of quotidian life, the meaning of some panels is less clear. It is likely that several scenes depict ritual acts overseen by gods, often surrounded by abstract symbols - crosses, dots and ‘cups’, the significance of which is now unknown. As well as being a source of information about Scandinavian Bronze Age weapons, vehicles, tools, ships, even hairstyles, the carvings have also been the subject of debates about gender. The society depicted on the rocks seems overwhelmingly patriarchal, making the rare carvings of probable female figures particularly important. The most famous of these is known as The Grieving Woman, apparently weeping over a dead warrior from a ship. Her grief, ‘heavy as rocks’ is heard in the opening movement of the piece, echoing through the remaining movements and giving the work its dark, melancholy character. The Woman returns in the final movement as a ghost, her footsteps coming closer and closer as her ‘lover’s’ ship is rebuilt over and over again. Movement III is gentler in tone, a song for the Woman and her lover - depicted as a couple rolling a giant sun surrounded by farm animals. Movement II represents the enigmatic Juggler or Calendar Man who holds 29 spheres in his hand - perhaps juggling the fate of The Grieving Woman.