SKU: IS.DBP4659EM

ISBN 9790365046591.

Belgian composer Theo Van Doren (1898 - 1974) was a Belgian composer, teacher and violinist. He was a teacher at the Music Academy of Borgerhout and was also a soloist in the orchestra of the Royal Flemish Opera in Antwerp. This edition of his Andante and Allegro for double bass and piano was first published by Metropolis Music Publishers in 1967. The opening Andante is a chance for the soloist to demonstrate the lyrical and expressive qualities of the double bass. Following this is the Allegro, which is a scherzo in 3/8 time, allowing the the soloist to show the technical capabilities and utilize the whole range of the instrument. The work is dedicated to Leo Van de Velde, teacher at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Music in Antwerp.

SKU: BT.YE0032

A petite concerto for Double bass with three well-contrasted movements. This is an enjoyable piece with nothing unmanageable for a moderately advanced player. A versatile piece for use in music club programmes as well as ABRSMDouble Bass Syllabus. Orchestral material for strings with optional percussion (1 player: glock, triangle, tambourine, xylophone).

SKU: HL.126200

8.25x11.25x0.131 inches.

SKU: BT.YE0036

Four movements, top part advanced. Several recordings and many broadcasts. Duration c.13'.

Programme Notes:

The Swiss composer Joseph Lauber was born at Ruswil near Lucerne in 1864. After studying with Heger in Zürich and Rheinberger in Munich, Lauber worked with Diémer and Massenet in Paris. With Massenet he learnt a great deal about orchestration, a subject that he subsequently taught until the end of his life at the Geneva conservatoire as well as piano and composition. He died in 1952.

Lauber's 193 catalogued works are many and varied. He wrote for all instruments and in every genre except oratorio and opera. Among his output areseveral works for double bass, most written for Prof. Hans Fryba, a personal friend with whom he worked as a double bass and piano recital duo. Fryba was one of the leading players in Europe in his day and was principal of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. First was Theme and Variations (1936-7) and a Rhapsodie with orchestra (1937). Three Walzes followed in 1939, a Gavotte and Gigue, a Sonata and then in 1943 Fantasie de Concert, written for the Geneva Competition. Four Caprices appeared in 1942, the same date as the Quartet for double basses which was dedicated to Fryba and written for the Berlin Philharmonic Double Bass Quartet, one of the first ever such ensembles to exist.

The Quartet for double basses was revived by Klaus Stoll in the 1970s for the Philharmonic Double Bass Quartet at that time to play. It was subsequently published in 1975 by Yorke Edition by kind permission of the composer's son Edmund Lauber.

Rodney Slatford 2004

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.