Dave Anderson: 7 Double Bass Duets (original version)

About the Duets

Bass players are always searching for new material. As far as duets go, we have raided the Bach 2 part inventions, Bartok violin duos, and many other sources from many musical periods. Modern composers have written some wonderful material, but bassists' solo and chamber repertoires are still very small compared to all other string instruments. My bass teacher and mentor, Frank Proto, has written some excellent bass duets and clever transcriptions of superb repertoire. 

When writing my bass duets, I could not avoid a humoristic approach. After all, we bassists are always regarded as accompanists, and solos are viewed as a “lower” art. The range of our instrument is huge, and I wanted to use all of it, including the use of the low C (and B!) extension and high harmonics. Both parts are intentionally equal and the melodic material is passed back and forth. 

The titles of my Seven Double Bass Duets obviously need some explanation: Kibbles'n Kibbitz-a canine-inspired dialogue. Parade of the Politically Prudent Pigs-Jimi Hendrix and Sergei Prokofiev meets Rush Limbaugh. Rush Hour-7:30AM in downtown traffic, taxi horns, of course, but check out the twisted two-part invention! Schweik Fahrt dedicated to my colleagues in the American Society of University Composers (ASUC), a self-descriptive style for this type of composition*.

The final measure is a complete musical representation of the movement's title. Lament-the only serious movement, a lyric miniature, recently dedicated in memory of my first bass teacher, Tony Knight. Blew Cheeze-a funky Jaco Pastorious-inspired cheesy blues mixed with the 'I Dream of Jeannie' groove and a little Led Zeppelin thrown in for good measure. This one also has a 12-tone double-time swing section and the cheesiest of endings. Gustav's 11 o'clock Dance refers, not to Klimt, Holst, or Mahler, but to my cat Gustav, who seemed to lose his mind every night at eleven, tearing around the house in a psychotic hunting fantasy frenzy. 

(Just to note: Frank Zappa suggested that the ASUC "...change their name to Whole Earth Society of University Composers so that they would then be known as WESUC!!"). 

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