David Heyes: MUSIC for ONE: Ten Pieces for unaccompanied double bass

About the Collection

David Heyes has composed a wealth of music for unaccompanied double bass for all ability levels, and MUSIC for ONE brings together a selection of colourful and inventive pieces dating from the past ten years. His music is accessible and idiomatic, offering musical and technical challenges for musicians of today, exploring and exploiting the rich and sonorous qualities of the double bass.

David's music has been played in 36 countries, across five continents, and MUSIC for ONE gives a snapshot of the styles and idioms which have influenced his musical journey to date.

Watch performances of Leaving St. Kilda, Lamentations, and A New Dawn / Dark Shadows.

Table of Contents

1. SHADOW PLAY

Shadow Play was composed for Emma Sullivan (Principal Bass, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra) in Australia on 23 May 2021. It is built on three notes from Emma's name (E-A-S=E flat/D sharp) and is dark and atmospheric, describing shadows, silhouettes, and images which are partly hidden or slightly out of focus. It uses a three-octave range and features many of the colours and timbres available to the 21st-century bassist.

2. SOLILOQUY

Soliloquy was composed on Thursday 12 January 2023, on a teaching day when four students were ill, and David Heyes suddenly had some free time. There are no dynamic markings because the piece seems to play itself and the musical line suggests the dynamics and tempo. An open A drone underpins short snippets of melody and a jazz or classical pizzicato can be used, or even a mixture of the two. The tempo is free and rhapsodic with an emphasis on colour and tone in the rich bass clef register of the double bass. Soliloquy was premiered by David Heyes at Radley College (Abingdon, Oxfordshire) on Sunday 15 January 2023.

3. NOCTURNE No.2

"I was very pleased to receive a commission from my great friend Kel (P Kellach Waddle) in Texas for three short pieces for unaccompanied double bass for a concert series in March/April 2019. Ideally, they would not be difficult, which they aren't, and about a minute each. In fact, the three last around four minutes in total and can be played singly, as a suite or in any order." 3 Nocturnes was composed in November and December 2018 and revised and completed on 26/27 December. The overall mood is dark and evocative, exploring the lower register of the double bass primarily, with slow tempi and a generally expressive and legato feel throughout. Nocturne No.2 employs simple harmonics in lower positions with an open string drone played pizzicato, contrasting the sombre mood of the first nocturne which is slow moving and sonorous.

4. LAMENTATIONS

Lamentations is dedicated to Jan Krigovsky and the Slovak Double Bass Club and is intense and brooding, evocative and atmospheric, using much of the range of the solo double bass. It is based on the notes E flat-D-C-B, suggested by Jan Krigovsky, and exploits the lyrical and sonorous qualities of the double bass, with simple performance effects added for contrast. A repeating bell-like open G string, played pizzicato with the left hand, adds a recurring drone, sometimes above or often below the melodic interest.

Premiere: Glen Rodriguez on Thursday 26 July 2018 in Guanare, Venezuela / US Premiere: Chris Clark on Sunday 12 August 2018 at Lawrence Road Presbyterian Church, New Jersey / UK Premiere: Emma Sullivan on Saturday 22 September 2018 at Wells Cathedral School, Somerset / Slovak Premiere: Jan Krigovsky on Saturday 6 October 2018 at Banská Bystrica / German Premiere: Dan Styffe on Sunday 27 October 2018 at Muhldorf am Inn / Austrian Premiere: Jan Krigovsky on Friday 8 February 2019 at Graz University

5. SIESTA

Siesta is dedicated to David Kolenda, who won a competition at one of Susan Hagen's online recitals, and the prize was a new piece for solo bass which was dedicated to the winner. Siesta was completed on 25 September 2022 and lasts around three minutes. It remains in bass clef, using a number of playing styles and techniques, and the overall feeling is one of relaxation and rest. The opening six note motif acts as a unifying figure and there are few technical challenges, but many opportunities to explore and create a wealth of colours and timbres in the orchestral register of the double bass.

6. THRENODY

Threnody is taken from Scaling the Heights, a book of 24 scale studies which move into and out of thumb position and was composed in 2021. It was commissioned by Susan Hagen, for her students at Berklee College of Music (Boston, USA), and these short pieces are in every major and minor key. Threnody is in F sharp minor and is a slow and sonorous lament. Although mostly moving stepwise, it aims to develop both musical and technical skills alongside a secure knowledge of the middle register when moving into and out of thumb position.

7. LEAVING ST. KILDA

For over two thousand years man lived on St. Kilda, one of Britain's most spectacular and bleak offshore islands. The islanders were crofters, but were cut off from the mainland for much of their history, maintaining a lifestyle which was unchanged for generations. On 29 August 1930 the remaining 36 inhabitants of St. Kilda left the island for the last time. Their way of life was no longer possible with such a small population and their isolation, once the fascination of an outside world, proved untenable in the early years of the 20th century.

Leaving St. Kilda imagines the final day on the island as the few inhabitants packed their belongings and boarded the SS Dunara Castle on their journey to the mainland. As dawn breaks over Hirta the villagers begin to stir and memories of a time long-gone inhabit their thoughts as the day begins. Images of working together to herd sheep and harvest the fulmar colony, in preparation for the long and harsh winter, or the meetings and celebrations when times were easier and happier. As the ship leaves the harbour the St. Kildans fall silent as the island slowly fades from view. An imaginary and heart-breaking lament can be heard, although no words are spoken, and their hearts are breaking but they remain silent and still. The music gradually fades away until the island is lost into the mists of time.

Leaving St. Kilda is dedicated to Lewis Tingey who gave its premiere at the Royal College of Music (London) on Tuesday 2 June 2015. Lewis Tingey writes: "Hey David the premiere went well. The audience and the panel loved the piece."

8. MEDITATION

Meditation was completed on 16 February 2021 and is dedicated to Susan Hagen who gave the premiere during her online recital on 13 March 2021. Meditation is a stand-alone work or can be played after Seven Last Words from the Cross. The letters from Susan's name were used as a starting point — S (E flat)-A-H (B)-G-E — with E flat played also as D sharp. The mood is generally slow and contemplative, although it builds to a climax towards the end, rising into a much higher register, with a series of double stops to keep the work grounded. Meditation was composed over two days and the opening introduction was composed first. Neither the notes nor rhythms are complex or advanced but the composer aimed for a relaxed and simple feel, working with the wonderful sound of the solo double bass across different registers.

9. DARK SHADOWS

Dark Shadows was completed on 24 December 2021 and was commissioned by Brian Choy, one of the composer's specialist double bass students at Wells Cathedral School. It uses a contemporary vocabulary, exploring a wealth of colours and effects in music which is mysterious, dramatic and atmospheric. There are musical and technical challenges in equal measure and the piece is built on letters from Brian's name — B (B flat)-A-C-H (B natural) — which incidentally spells out the name of BACH and has been used by many composers. Dark Shadows was premiered by Brian Choy at Wells Cathedral School (Somerset, UK) on Wednesday 16 March 2022.

10. STILL LIFE

Still Life was completed on 2 March 2022 and was commissioned by Susan Hagen (Boston Pops Orchestra/Berklee College of Music) for an online recital later this year. It was inspired by a post-impressionist painting by Gwen John (1876-1939), called The Little Interior (c.1926), and the music is muted and understated, using a limited palette of notes and dynamics. It remains in the orchestral register of the double bass, making use of open string drones to add depth and colour. The painting is beautifully evocative and atmospheric, with few definite lines or hard edges, and the music reflects this with long meandering phrases, simple and evolving rhythmic patterns, slow-moving and still.

About the Composer

David Heyes studied double bass with Laurence Gray and Bronwen Naish, later at the Royal College of Music in London, and completed his post-graduate studies in Prague with František Pošta (Principal Bass, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra). He has given recitals and masterclasses in 20 countries over the past few years and has been a juror at a number of international competitions, three times as chairman.

David's collaborative work gained him a prestigious award from the David Walter Charitable Trust of New York for his pioneering activities as a soloist, teacher, publisher, and commissioner of new music for double bass. He works with composers throughout the world to expand the double bass repertoire by commissioning new music and by rediscovering forgotten ones. Since 1983 more than 700 works have been written for him, music from one to twenty basses and from beginner to virtuoso, and he has premiered ten contemporary concertos with orchestra.

David began to compose in 2013 and has had music performed and recorded in 36 countries across five continents. He is a D'Addario Performing Artist and has recently commissioned a solo double bass from British master-luthier Martin Penning.

Cover Photo by Sarah Poole