Informationen zu "David Heyes The Last Poppy Double Bass Trio"
Verlag: Recital Music
Verlagsnummer: RM114
EAN: 9790570451142
ISMN: M-57045-114-2
Beschreibung
'Great piece, very effective and moving work for double bass trio.' [Chris
Clark, Double Bass Professor at The College of New Jersey, USA] ' It went
over very well - a few people in the audience said it was their favorite
piece.' [Michael Cameron, Professor of Music, University of Illinois] 'VERY
NICE!...meditative...playable, inspirational. Great job...composer!' [Barry
Green] 'They adore it!!!..I can't tell you how thrilled we all were with
your piece! ' [Michael Klinghoffer] '...a dark and poet lamentation' [Steve
Wragg] 'Love that piece. Simple and very moving.' [ Neil Pye] The Last
Poppy was inspired by the momentous and evocative poppy installation 'Blood
Swept Lands and Seas of Red' at the Tower of London in 2014. Created by
artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies progressively
filled the Tower's famous moat, each poppy representing a British military
fatality during the First World War. More than 4 million people visited the
poppies and my third visit, a few days before 11 November, was at 6.30am and
just as the City of London was awakening. The site was almost empty and there
was an eerie stillness which enhanced the beauty and poignancy of the poppies
and what each one represented. Driving back to Somerset a few ideas emerged
and the form of the trio slowly took shape. The slow introduction, with its
solemn and slow moving melody is set against a high harmonic drone, evoking
the stillness of the early morning as London slowly awoke. The soloist then
becomes the accompanist providing a grounding drone contrasting the more
lyrical melodies, played in thirds, as the drama and futility of war is
evoked with simple and evocative textures and themes. The final section,
played entirely in harmonics, is gently unsettling as bass 3 challenges the
melodic unity of bass 1 and 2, the music gently fading into the distance as a
few notes of the Last Post are heard in the far distance. A brief silence is
broken by a strong and positive D major chord, in six parts, which offers a
chord of hope and reconciliation. The Last Poppy was premiered on 31
January 2015 at Wells Cathedral School (Somerset, UK) by Joe Prindl, Matthew
Green and David Heyes. The Last Poppy had it's US premiere on 12 April 2015
at The College of New Jersey (Ewing, New Jersey) by Victoria Weniger, Tom
Littwin, and Ryan Wickham, students of Chris Clark. David Heyes studied
double bass with Laurence Gray and Bronwen Naish and later at the Royal
College of Music in London. He completed his post-graduate studies in Prague
with Frantisek Posta (Principal Double Bass, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra).
He has given recitals and masterclasses in 13 countries over the past few
years and has been a juror at a number of international competitions, twice
as chairman. David has been Specialist Double Bass Tutor at Wells Cathedral
School for 17 years and received a prestigious award from the David Walter
Charitable Trust of New York for his pioneering activities as a soloist,
teacher, publisher and commissioner of new music for double bass. He works
with composers throughout the world and is particularly interested to expand
the double bass repertoire, by commissioning new works and by rediscovering
forgotten ones. Over the past 30 years he has commissioned more than 500
works, from beginner to virtuoso, and from one to twenty basses. David has
transcribed more than 200 works for double bass, many published by Recital
Music, and in recent year has also composed a number of original works for
double bass which have been performed in Britain, America and Czech Republic.
David is self-taught as a composer and his music has been described as
lyrical and accessible, but certainly of the 21st-century. In recent years he
has had premieres and performances in Britain, America, Spain and the Czech
Republic, was a Featured Composer at Galicia Graves 2015 (Spain) and composed
'Sahara' as the imposed work for the competition.
