Informationen zu "John Alexander setting out Double Bass & Piano"
Verlag: Recital Music
Verlagsnummer: RM1085
EAN: 9990093814633
Beschreibung
This book of 7 miniature pieces for double bass and piano are in order of
difficulty, from ?easy? through to ?a little more challenging?, and are
intended for a beginner student of any age. The whole collection is warmly
dedicated to Susan Hagen ? of Boston, Massachusetts, USA ? and her students.
1. open march - Using only open strings, this first piece sets out to keep
the bass player in strict time with a pianist partner whilst introducing the
musical implication and importance of rests. 2. my granddad?s beard - The
beard in mind is mostly expressed by the music of the piano, but also
introduces the first stopped note beyond the use of just open strings in the
bass part, the first whisker, you might say. 3. the no.19 bus - A sort of
call and response piece, or bus, with the bass part returning to just open
strings whilst increasing the duration value of individual notes to three,
thus setting some rhythmic interest. 4. morning ritual - The start of each
day naturally involves some repetitive action and this piece ? with a second
stopped note now in the frame along with the open strings ? depicts the idea
of repetition via rhythm and pitch. 5. dub-step waltz - This, the only
waltz, offers the bass player a lyrical dance line and, towards the end, even
an ascending scale of six notes as pitches are gradually accumulated through
the collection. 6. outing cancelled - At some point in our lives, all of us
have an experience of looking forward to something that has then unexpectedly
and abruptly been called off, and this piece characterises the onset of that
disappointment. 7. rugged rock - This, the longest piece in the collection,
further extends the range of notes used within the double bass part and the
combination of those pitches, along with the jaunty rhythms it utilises, also
makes it the most challenging of these little pieces. [Programme notes by
John Alexander] John Alexander was born in West Sussex in 1942 and began to
compose at the age of 20. At the time he discovered a fascination for art,
literature, dance, architecture and sculpture and these topics, along with
mathematics, have continued to have a bearing on his work. He studied
composition with Edmund Rubbra at the Guildhall School of Music in London,
and later with Jonathan Harvey and Peter Wiegold at the University of Sussex.
John Alexander has never been a prolific composer, but an impressive and
growing body of work reflects a rare eye for detail and structure - each work
beautifully crafted and reworked until every inflection, detail and nuance is
perfect. Probably best described as a miniaturist, he writes in a fluent,
independent and strongly personal style with an intense desire to create
music which communicates to both performer and audience alike. In 1999 John
Alexander won the 1st BIBF Composition Contest and was invited to be a judge
for several BIBF competitions. He was a featured composer at Bass-Fest 2001,
was an spnm short-listed composer for three years, and was
Composer-in-residence at the 2004 Rotterdam Conservatoire Double Bass
Weekend, Bass-Fest 2006 and 2007 Wells Double Bass Weekend. His works have
been performed and broadcast throughout the world and he was written an
impressive and unique body of work for double bass.
