316C0577-EFED-4E40-95EA-566DCAB90B66

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ID316C0577-EFED-4E40-95EA-566DCAB90B66
TitlecodeR00784
Title NameConcerto for Double Bass and Orchestra
Marketing CopyCommissioned by Gary Karr and the Pacific Symphony. Recorded by Gary Karr, Paris Philharmonic Orchestra, Cybelia CD CY-1106.
InstrumentationDouble Bass, Piano Reduction from 2+Picc.2+EH.2+BCl.2+Cbsn: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(3).Hp: Str
CommissionCommissioned by Gary Karr and the Pacific Symphony
Dedication(not set)
Program NotesAs a musician of European ancestry born in Latin America, I became fascinated a few years ago by the discovery that a composer like Antonio Vivaldi had written an opera about the Aztec emperor Montezuma.

When, in January of 1986, virtuoso, Gary Karr commissioned me a piece for double bass and orchestra, he asked me to write something lyrical. "I would like to make the instrument sing, " he said.

Immediately I decided to write a concerto in the shape of an opera, where the double bass would be the protagonist (basso). Obviously this "opera" did not have a story but the Montezuma/Vivaldi connection triggered an imaginary musical idiom based on neobaroque and indoamerican elements. I was compelled by the idea of alternating colorful scenes ("dances," "choruses") with introspective "arias, recitativos and duets."

However, the challange was to give an internal unity to the many elements and at the same time create a showcase for the solo instrument. Like Europeans exploring terra incognita, I sailed through the strings of the bass. Gary Karr himself helped me too with a catalogue of possible extensions, figurations, bowing techniques and articulations which I proceeded to integrate into the work.

I am almost certain that the double bass does not portray the characters of neither Montezuma nor Vivaldi but rather the subjective impressions of a modern observer who attempts to interpret the interdependence of peculiar historical events and searches his own soul while reviewing parades of orchestral timbers joining their rhythms and "singing" along with their melodic contours. --Lalo Schifrin
Title Brand2
Year Composed1986
Copyright Number(not set)
Copyright Year(not set)
Duration26
Ensemble Size2
Date Created2008-10-31 20:33:11.000000
Date Updated2025-09-30 20:33:11
Inhouse Note(not set)
Bsc Code(not set)
Text Author(not set)
Premier Performance Memo(not set)
Recording CreditsRecorded by Gary Karr, Paris Philharmonic Orchestra, Cybelia CD CY-1106.
Review(not set)
Awards(not set)
Title Category10
Title Movements(not set)
Title Grade(not set)
Set Series ID(not set)
Title Instrument Category TextDouble Bass
Title Sub Category Text(not set)
Title Sub Category99
Title Instrument Header59
Title Grade Text(not set)
Clean Urlconcerto-for-double-bass-and-orchestra-r00784