Informationen zu "David Heyes Bessy's Beginner Bass Quartets Double Bass Quartet"
Verlag: Recital Music
Verlagsnummer: RM1117
EAN: 9990093814855
Beschreibung
Bessy's Beginner Bass Quartets is also available as a PDF file. Please
contact doublebass@tiscali.co.uk or solodoublebass@gmail.com for more
details. David Heyes writes: 'Composing for the beginner bass ensemble is a
great challenge to a composer and, fortunately, my experience as a
professional double bassist and teacher helped with many aspects of both
pieces. My plan is to compose six Bessy Bass Quartets in total, two for
beginners, two for progressing bassists and two for the intermediate quartet.
The two beginner quartets are primarily in 1st position, with a few easy
harmonics in 4th position, and a number of playing techniques were
introduced, such as col legno, sul ponticello, Bartok pizz. and bass
percussion, to create interest and contrasts. The low tessitura of the
beginner bass quartet has the potential to be muddy and unfocused but, with
careful editing and writing, the textures can be open and bright offering
exciting challenges for the performers alongside music which is enjoyable for
audiences. I tried to make each part interesting and Bass 4 only plays open
strings alongside bass percussion. Both pieces will work as a quartet or with
massed forces and it was also interesting to create versions for double bass
trio. 1) Bessy's Big Day out is lively and fun with a limited number of
notes and rhythms suitable for young bassists. The addition of harmonics in
4th position creates height and bass 4 grounds the piece with pizzicato open
strings, bass percussion using a chopstick, ending with a strong Bartok pizz.
note to bring the piece to a successful conclusion. The melodic interest is
passed between basses 1 and 3 but each player is an important part of the
team. 2) Bessy's Highland Fling uses the 'Scotch snap' throughout, alongside
bagpipe effects, producing a piece which is Scottish from beginning to end.
There is a strong forward momentum, with the repetition of themes and
rhythms, and the addition of bass percussion from Bass 4 adds character and
drive. More challenging than 'Bessy's Big Day Out', this is a fun and
energetic piece which would make an ideal final item in any concert.' May
Halyburton, the founder and driving force behind the Bessy Bass empire, has
written an exciting story for each quartet which can be read out before each
piece is played. May Hayburton writes: 'Bessy Bass is a young double bass
from Scotland who loves to travel and have adventures with other instrument
family and friends. As the central character in the ?Around the World with
Bessy? series of children?s books with music, Bessy learns a little about the
language, culture and of course, the music of each destination she visits, as
well as the importance of friendship, kindness and inclusion. Through her
stories, Bessy aims to sow the seed of curiosity about the wonderful world of
music in the minds of her young readers, with the hope that they might even
be inspired to ?nd their musical instrument. Bessy was overwhelmed when the
wonderful double bassist and composer, David Heyes offered to write a suite
of beginner double bass quartets for her! David suggested the idea of
accompanying each piece with a short ?Bessy? story and so began our exciting
collaboration.'
