Édouard Nanny Heritage Series (ed. David Heyes)

About the Collection

The Édouard Nanny Heritage Series celebrates the artistry and legacy of one of the most influential double bass figures of the 20th century. As the founder of the modern French school of double bass playing, Édouard Nanny (1872–1942) combined technical innovation with musical elegance, creating works that continue to inspire and challenge bassists today. This collection brings together four major contributions to the double bass repertoire, spanning virtuosic showpieces, lyrical recital works, and pedagogical gems, all newly presented in editions for both solo and orchestral tuning. All pieces in the collection are expertly edited by David Heyes.

What's In the Bundle

1. Concerto in E minor for Double Bass & Piano

Édouard Nanny’s Concerto was published in 1938 and was originally only available for orchestral tuning. In three contrasting movements and lasting around fifteen minutes, the concerto is easy to program and would be ideal for any audience or occasion. Aimed at the advanced bassist and using the entire range of the double bass, there are a wealth of technical and musical challenges making this ideal as a study or recital piece.

The compositional style is tonal and accessible with a supportive and independent piano accompaniment which adds energy and colour. Nanny knew the technical possibilities of the double bass in 1938, the majority of which he included, and it’s a concerto which deserves to be reassessed in the 150th anniversary of Nanny’s birth.

This edition includes accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tuning.

2. Tarantella for Double Bass & Piano

Nanny’s Tarantella probably dates from the early 1920s and was first published in 1925 by Alphonse Leduc & Cie in Paris. It is a fun and vibrant work, brimming with rhythmic bravura and virtuosic flourish, enabling the soloist to demonstrate a technical and musical prowess across the entire solo range of the instrument.

Aimed at the advanced bassist, there are double stops and harmonics aplenty, alongside a lively and independent piano accompaniment, creating a virtuosic showpiece which would be an ideal final item in a recital.

This edition includes piano accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tuning.

3. Three Caprices for Double Bass & Piano

Nanny’s Three Caprices are ideal for both study and recital repertoire, exploring the entire range of the solo double bass and ideal for the intermediate bassist. Written in the style of a moto perpetuo, with technical challenges aplenty, each caprice is spirited and accessible, with its own engaging and stylish character, offering much to performers and audiences alike.

The accompaniments are simple and supportive and each caprice works equally well with or without piano accompaniment.

This edition includes accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tuning.

4. Transcription Series for Double Bass & Piano

Édouard Nanny Transcription Series brings together three evocative and accessible recital pieces for double bass and piano - two transcriptions and one original work by Nanny, but published under a pseudonym and in the 18th-century style. Ideal for the intermediate bassist who enjoys playing throughout the solo register of the double bass.

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

About the Composer

Édouard Nanny (1872-1942) was the leading French bassist of his generation, taught at the Paris Conservatoire for 20 years, and is recognized as the founder of the modern French double bass school.

Alongside a wealth of transcriptions for double bass, Nanny also composed a series of original works which are worthy of revival in the 21st-century. His music is elegant and charming, exploiting the lyrical and technical possibilities of the double bass, and all are useful as both study and concert repertoire for the progressing bassist.

An anniversary is a good time to reassess a composer’s work and Recital Music is planning to create new editions of a number of Nanny’s original works and transcriptions, in both tunings, this year.

Édouard Nanny is an important figure in the development of the double bass in the first forty years of the 20th-century, particularly in France, and much of his educational music is still in print today. He made an amazing contribution to the double bass world and deserves to be celebrated and remembered.