This new publication replaces the old Latham edition (now out of print) - popula...(+)
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!
An easy virtuoso work published here for the first time and now much performed. ...(+)
An easy virtuoso work published here for the first time and now much performed. Recorded Slatford/Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields (EMI). AMEB (Australian Syllabus) 2004. Orchestral material on hire from Yorke Edition (not Spartan).Programme Note:As a young professional player in the 1960s my work as a double bassist with chamber ensembles and small orchestras took me all over the world. This presented an unparalleled opportunity to scour libraries and archives wherever I went. Long before the advent of the photocopier and e-mail research was far more challenging than it is today. Eastern Europe was particularly difficult to access with manycollections kept under lock and key for all but a few hours a week. One quickly found colleagues who were keen to share information gleaned in passing even though they had no specific interest in one's own particular specialism (it is so often the peripheral topics that fascinate as much as the main subject under investigation and one can quickly be side-tracked into political and social issues that have only slender bearing on the job in hand!).In the early 1970s James Brown the then sub-principal oboist of the English Chamber Orchestra with whom I was working at the time stumbled across a small collection of double bass manuscripts at the Royal Danish State Library in Copenhagen. They were by Franz Anton Leopold Keÿper (b. c.1756 d. Copenhagen 7 June 1815) a double bassist of Dutch origin who worked as principal of the Royal Chapel Orchestra in Copenhagen. Keÿper's son was the bassoonist Franz Jacob August Keÿper (1792-1859). The collection included a number of concertos some chamber music and various naïve fragments. Although hardly the work of a Mozart or Haydn the style is characteristic of the period. For an instrument such as the double bass whose 18th century solo repertoire is largely written for tunings that are no longer in everyday use Keÿper's music is easily approachable in its
Written for David Heyes as part of his 'Fizz at 50' project. 'Gerty Goat Scuffer...(+)
Written for David Heyes as part of his 'Fizz at 50' project. 'Gerty Goat Scuffer' (in case you wondered) is one of many nick-names we had for a much loved family dog - officially named 'Heavy Hetty' from a character in an imaginative children's book of that name. In my youth as a composition student at the RAM I discovered that walking a dog for an hour a day is the anti-dote to the long hours required as a composer 'sat you yer bum' writing at a desk and (in those pre-computer years) writing endless parts out by hand. First of these 'best friends' was a glorious Gordon Setter called 'Sophie' (my first love) who accompanied Pat and I on our honeymoon acrossScotland. Thirty years later we were privileged to enjoy the company of three therapeutic beasts; 'Merlin' (a prize winning Pyrenean Mountain Dog) 'Gael' (an over energetic Scottish Border Collie) and 'Hetty' (a unique cross between a Pyrenean Mountain Dog and a St. Bernard - something of a 'kennel-maid's Accident'). Hetty (see picture) is unfortunately no longer with us now. She had an extraordinary puppy-hood that left her with titanium plates holding her back legs together. Hetty was surprisingly active though right through to the age of nearly 10 - speciality: chasing Pheasants in the grounds at Strathmashie - but she became progressively hampered by arthritis and 'scuffed along' on her vast hairy pads with a swagger. She also used to remind our children of a mountain goat. Songs have been written about her but this is the first instrumental work that she has inspired! The pervading thematic motive of the piece (heard from the outset) cheekily alludes to an (over) famous Saint-Saëns work for double bass (but no insult is intended to Hetty!). The increasingly roving tonality and unusually sudden shifts of key combined with the use of jazz chords combines to present a short but heartfelt tribute to a unique animal that provided untold pleasure to all she came into contact with simply by just being
Contrebasse, Piano (duo)[Partition] - Intermédiaire Yorke Edition
Thirty-five easy Pieces for Double Bass and Piano. A wealth of short and enjoyab...(+)
Thirty-five easy Pieces for Double Bass and Piano. A wealth of short and enjoyable tunes for school concerts festivals and exams. A tremendous amount of music packed into 48 pages. I highly recommend this book ...useful for a variety of levels of students'. American String Teacher. Contains a selection of pieces for the ABRSM and AMEB (Australian Syllabus) Double Bass examinations.
Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original k...(+)
Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original keys. They were placed in the library of the Music School in Oxford at the end of the seventeenth century in a form convenient for playing (i.e. unbound). The library was catalogued by Hake between 1850 and 1855 and the sonatas were eventually bound in 1855 with other instrumental and vocal manuscripts of the same period some of which are dated 1698.The sonatas are both inscribed on the title page Sonata à Violone Solo. Col Basso per l'Organo o Cembalo. A third sonata bears the words Sonata à Violino e Violoncino … di Giovannino del Violone. Giovannino(=Little or Young John) must have been a performer and although the third sonata has been copied by a different hand it is conceivable that Giovannino is a connecting link between the three. He cannot however be assumed to be their author.The Violone was a six-stringed instrument with frets and there is evidence to suggest that the Contrabasso of the same period was similar but probably a little larger; the Violoncino (=Little Violone or Violoncello) must have been smaller. The word 'Violone' was also used as a collective term embracing all members of the Viol family which means that the sonatas might well have been written for a tenor or a bass Viol and not necessarily a Violone as such. Indeed when they are played on a Violone or Double Bass the continuo bass line must be played at a lower pitch than the solo instrument to prevent inversion of the intended harmony. (The use of a Violone/Double Bass continuo or 16' organ tone would overcome this problem.)The editor has added no ornaments or embellishments to the solo part as it appears in the original manuscript. It is open to debate whether a Violone player owing to the very nature of his instrument would have used any but the simplest melodic decorations. Nevertheless the performer should acquaint himself thoroughly with those seventeenth century traditions that
24 Easy Pieces From 5 Centuries Using Half To 3Rd Position. The 'Easy Concert Pi...(+)
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 ?Easy Concert Pieces? series offers a wide spectrum of pieces from the Renai...(+)
The ?Easy Concert Pieces? series offers a wide spectrum of pieces from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras. The repertoire enriches the daily exercises and double bass tutor and is suited for all kinds of auditions. It contains original works for double bass solo as well as orchestral excerpts and arrangements of famous classical masterpieces. Volume 1 (easy) contains pieces in half and first position, with easy rhythms and melodies. It includes easy strokes and articulations such as portato, staccato and legato. Some pieces contain easy Flageolets. This volume offers a broad selection of classical masterpieces in easy arrangements.Volume 2 (easy to intermediate) contains pieces up to the 3rd position. As some new double bass tutors have a different approach in introducing position changes, volume 2 offers several pieces which reach the 2nd position, some pieces using only 1st and 3rd positions and some more difficult pieces which encompass all positions from half to third position. This volume consists of more original works.Volume 3 (intermediate) increases the repertoire up to the 6th position and requires a good control of the lower positions. It makes higher demands on expressive playing and interpretation, velocity and rhythm, as well as bowing techniques with articulation and phrasing./ Recueil / Contrebasse et Piano