Giovanni Bottesini: Gran Duetto No.2 for 2 double basses (ed. Heyes)

About the Composition

Tre Gran Duetti for double bass duet dates from the late 1830s, during Bottesini’s studies at Milan Conservatoire, and is dedicated to his double bass professor Luigi Rossi.

Gran Duetto No.3 has two contrasting movements and is the shortest of the three. Bottesini exploits the lyrical and virtuosic possibilities of the double bass in music which is vibrant and engaging. The melodic material is shared between the two players, with opportunities to display more than simply technical accomplishment, and demonstrate Bottesini’s amazing talents as a fully-formed composer and soloist from his earliest studies.

In 1835 Bottesini auditioned at Milan Conservatoire, having only studied the double bass for a few weeks, and commented to the audition panel "I know, Gentlemen, that I play out of tune; but when I know where to place my fingers this shall not happen anymore.” He made exceptional progress and left the conservatoire in 1839, three years earlier than was usual, and Alfredo Piatti, the celebrated cellist and fellow student remarked that Bottesini was fully formed as soloist when he left the conservatoire and the only thing he gained was experience.

This edition returns to the original manuscript, written at sounding pitch, an octave lower than we usually play, and the dynamics and articulations are inconsistent, otherwise the music is fairly clear to read. The manuscript consists of two solo parts and this new edition ensures that bowings and articulations are consistent when passages are repeated, otherwise there are few editorial markings to allow bassists to create a unique performance which is based on Bottesini’s original composition.

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.