Armand Russell: Thoughts for Times Past (In Memory of Frantisek Posta) for unaccompanied double bass

About the Composition

Thoughts for Times Past was composed for David Heyes in 2014, in memory of the great Czech double bass virtuoso František Pošta (1919-1991), in the 95th anniversary year of his birth. In one extend movement, it is a wonderfully colorful and descriptive work which exploits and demonstrates the amazing potential of the double bass across much of its solo register.

The six contrasting sections, played without a break, offer a number of moods and emotions with musical and technical challenges in equal measure. Each section is a tiny musical tone poem, evocative, atmospheric and rhythmically inventive, and the piece is a delight to play and has always been successful with audiences.

About the Composer

Armand Russell was born in Seattle, Washington in 1932. He received the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Washington, with a major in music composition, and a Doctorate in music composition from the Eastman School of Music. He studied double bass with Leslie Martin, who played in the Seattle Symphony and Boston Symphony Orchestras, and at the Eastman School of Music with Oscar Zimmerman. His composition studies were with John Verrall and George McKay at the University of Washington, and with Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson at the Eastman School.

Professionally, Armand Russell played double bass in many orchestras including the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Tour Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic and Civic Orchestras, and Honolulu Symphony. For five years he taught as a visiting Professor at the Eastman School of Music. From 1961 to 1994 he taught at the University of Hawaii Music Department and retired as Professor emeritus in 1994. While at the University of Hawaii he taught music theory, composition and double bass and also served as Chair of the Music Department for seven years.

Armand Russell's compositional style is confident and direct with a clarity of line and texture always to the fore. A modern, yet lyrical and accessible style, has created works which communicate equally to performers and audiences alike and he has made, and continues to make, a unique and valuable contribution to the double bass
literature throughout a long and successful career.

Armand Russell died in October 2023 at the age of 92 years.