Bottesini: Bolero for double bass & piano (ed. David Heyes)

About the Composition

Bolero is one of Bottesini’s lesser-known pieces, dating from c.1885, and combines vigorous and spirited technical challenges alongside lyrical passages which emphasise the sonorous and singing qualities of the double bass.

Aimed at the advanced bassist, the opening introduction leads directly into the animated and rhythmic Bolero theme, primarily in treble clef, demonstrating the instrument's virtuosic possibilities.

Bolero is a fun and effervescent work that deserves a place in the standard solo repertoire. Its accompaniment is supportive but rhythmically independent.

The edition includes piano accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tunings.

About the Composer

Giovanni Bottesini was called the 'Paganini of the Double Bass' and was the finest double bass soloist of the 19th-century. He was born in Crema (Lombardy) on 24 December 1821 and studied at the double bass at the Milan Conservatoire with Luigi Rossi, alongside harmony and composition with Nicola Vaccai (1790-1848) and Francesco Basili (1767- 1850).

His remarkable career as a soloist began in 1839 and lasted fifty years, taking him to every corner of the world. From Italy, his travels took him to Cuba (1846), USA (1847), England (annually from 1849), Egypt, Ireland, France, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Spain, Belgium, Monte Carlo and many other countries throughout a long and distinguished career. Bottesini was also famous as a composer writing at least 13 operas (Cristoforo Colombo, 1847 / Il diavolo della notte, 1856 / Ali Baba, 1871 / Ero e Leandro, 1879), a Messa da Requiem (1880) and an oratorio, The Garden of Olivet (1887 - first performed at the Norwich Festival), works for orchestra, 11 string quartets, string quintets, songs and many virtuoso works for double bass.

As a conductor he is remembered primarily for directing the first performance of Verdi's Aida in Cairo in 1871, but was also a respected composer of Italian opera, including seasons in Mexico, Paris, Palermo, Barcelona, London, Buenos Aires and Parma. Giovanni Bottesini died in Parma on 7 July 1889