Dave Anderson: 4 Short Pieces for solo double bass (1994)

About the Compositions

I wrote this piece for a fantastic bassist and close friend, Sidney King, on commission in 1994.

Many bassists have played these pieces worldwide and I wanted to leave many of the personal interpretations open to the performer. My good friend, Hal Robinson, principal in Philly, did a segue from the Prelude to the Scherzando. that added a dramatic flavor! This was not written, but I love that!

I wrote these 4 Pieces when I was on the road and wanted to meet the challenge of fulfilling all time as a solo instrument... and that being the bass was a serious challenge! This is one of the pieces where I used the bass as the primary composition instrument.

The scherzando is influenced by Bartok and Bach and the Serenade is influenced by Prokofiev's lyric side. The Capriccio is influenced by one of my teachers... Jaco Pastorius. He showed me many options with the bass that was unique to his taste and I tried to incorporate many of them into this movement.

Sid King premiered it and helped me get some kinks out of the published version.

-Dave

About the Composer

Dave Anderson has been Principal Bass with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since 1996,  and the Britt Festival Orchestra since 1994. He has performed extensively with many diverse ensembles including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Aspen Festival, Chautauqua (NY) Festival, Colorado Philharmonic (NRO), Colorado Music Festival, the LaSalle Quartet, and as a soloist with Richard Stoltzman, Gene Bertoncini, Nigel Kennedy, Bobby McFerrin, Doc Severinsen, and many others.

Anderson is an internationally acclaimed composer of orchestral and chamber works, with performances around the world shared on YouTube. His Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, was commissioned and premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra with Principal Bassist Hal Robinson and Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting.

Also a prolific jazz and funk bassist, Anderson has jammed with The Radiators, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Roy Pope, Darryl Brown, and many other great New Orleans musicians including a killer performance with guitarist Brian Stoltz of the Funky Meters as a main highlight of the French Quarter Festival.

I began writing in 1984, while a student at Cincinnati Conservatory, seeing the need for works for solo bass. Frank Proto, my mentor and teacher at CCM, was a great influence on my early years of composition, inspiring me with his prolific creativity and endless versatility to write in many different styles of music.

He encouraged me to study orchestration and texture in scores of Mahler, Respighi, and Rimsky-Korsakov. I grew up hearing all the masters under the baton of George Szell and Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, as my father, Ed Anderson, was their Bass Trombonist for over 20 years.

Elliot Carter, Prokofiev, Mahler, Stravinsky and Shostakovich have had the greatest influence on my writing. I had the privilege to show my early String Symphony and Bass Concerto to Maxim Shostakovich, and was delighted he recognized his father’s spirit in my pieces.

My works also incorporate funk, jazz, and blues styles. I have finished several commissions, including Nonet, a work for the Musaica Chamber Ensemble. A new CD has been released and the score and parts will soon be available. 

-Dave