Teppo Hauta-aho: Quartettino Basso 5/4 for double bass quartet

About the Quartet

Quartettino Basso 5/4 was commissioned by David Heyes and was premiered by the double bass students at Wells Cathedral School (Somerset, UK) on 5 May 2006.

Aimed at the intermediate quartet, with effective and accessible musical and technical challenges for each player, this is a colourful and engaging two-movement work of atmospheric and tonal contrasts. Primarily written in the orchestral register, both movements are in 5/4 time, hence the title, and there is much here to enjoy for bassists of all ages and abilities.

The 1st movement (Adagio) employs a wealth of dark and sombre tone colours before developing into a more atmospheric section, contrasting simple harmonic passages with melodies in the lower registers.

The 2nd movement (Allegro moderato) is rhythmic and confident with a strong forward momentum, alongside some passages in treble clef for basses 1 and 2, but nothing too challenging.

About the Composer

Finnish composer and bassist Teppo Hauta-aho was the most prolific bass composer of our time and since the 1970s composed more than 400 works for double bass - spanning the entire range of standards from beginner to virtuoso.

Teppo Hauta-aho was born in 1941 and studied double bass with Orvo Hyle and Oiva Nummelin in Finland, and František Pošta in Prague. He played with the Helsinki Philharmonic between 1965 and 1972, and the Finnish Opera Orchestra from 1975 to 2000. Teppo Hauta-aho was an active recitalist, both classical and jazz, gave more than 300 recitals with his duo partner, Carita Holmström, and was at the cutting edge of modern improvisation - performing with leading improvisers throughout the world, for many years.

Finnish composer Harry Wessman writes: "As a composer, Teppo Hauta-aho has always been his own teacher, basing his technical knowledge on his wide practical musicianship as an orchestral player, chamber and jazz musician. It would not be an exaggeration to claim that he was the jazz bassist most in demand in Finland in the 1970s, and a few of his works are pure jazz compositions. But the compositional techniques and musical means used in the majority of his works originate in an unusual openness for any devices. Along with modern techniques, his source of inspiration includes all the previous stylistic periods in European music, impulses from Oriental music and, of course, jazz. His own instrument, the double bass, has profited especially from his rich inventiveness in finding new means to conjure forth unusual sounds from the instrument, and in applying them in an artistically meaningful and striking way."

Teppo Hauta-aho's music has been performed extensively in Finland and abroad, notably in America, Britain, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Soviet Union, Australia and Switzerland. He died in Helsinki on 27 November 2021.