Miloslav Gajdoš: Two for Two: Two Duets for 2 Double Basses

Table of Contents

1. Novelette

2. Song of the Troubadour

About the Duets

Originally for violin and double bass, these two fun, inventive and engaging pieces are aimed at the advanced double bass duo. There are musical and technical challenges for each player, alongside the opportunity to play beautiful lyrical melodies in the solo register of the double bass, and both are ideal for any audience or occasion.

Miloslav Gajdoš writes in a tonal and traditional style, throughout the entire range of the double bass, and his music has been performed by bassists across the world.

1. Novelette begins with an extended soliloquy for double bass 2 before bass 1 introduces a sonorous and lyrical melody which soars above a supportive quaver (eighth-note) accompaniment.

2. Song of the Troubadour combines a lyrical melody in the solo register against a more animated and prominent arpeggio accompaniment. It emphasises the possibilities and potential of the double bass across its entire register, creating an amazingly colourful and spirited duet.

About the Composer

Miloslav Gajdoš (b.1948) is one of Europe's most active and inventive bassist-composers. He was born in northern Moravia in 1948 and initially learned violin before transferring to the double bass, studying with Alois Kříž, Jirí Bortlíček and Ludwig Streicher.

He has been Professor of Double Bass at the Vejvanovský Conservatoire in Kroměříž (Czech Republic) since 1971, and was a member of the Olomouc Symphony Orchestra for a number of years. He is Director of the Gregora International Double Bass Competition, founded in 1979 and held every two years in Kroměříž, and has been a juror at many competitions in Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Miloslav Gajdoš is a prolific composer and arranger and, for almost 40 years, has produced a vast body of original works and transcriptions for double bass which are performed worldwide. His original works combine Czech lyricism and melody with brilliant technical demands, and music from one to sixteen double basses. He writes in a traditional and accessible style, producing music for every level of performer, particularly for the advanced bassist, and his many works for unaccompanied double bass are frequently chosen as international competition repertoire.

[Gajdoš is pronounced GUY-DOSH]