Miloslav Gajdos: Chanson Triste for double bass quintet

About the Composition

Chanson Triste was composed in 1989 and is both lyrical and sonorous, utilizing the full timbral range of the double bass. Long cantabile melodies contrast a pizzicato accompaniment, above a slow arco bass line, developing subtly as the opening material returns.

Written in a traditional influence and influenced by the musical styles and idioms of central Europe, Chanson Triste offers effective musical and technical challenges for the adventurous ensemble, exploring the rich tonal palette that is available to the double bass quintet.

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]