Teppo Hauta-aho: Double Poem Basso II - in memory of František Pošta for 2 double basses

About the Composition

Double Poem Basso II is based on František Pošta's name and is primarily cast in the form of a soloist and accompanist. Double Bass 1 plays primarily in the higher register, with lyrical and dramatic melodic phrases contrasting a jazzy and pizzicato bass line.

Jazz and contemporary idioms create an amazing wealth of sounds and tone colours which are typical of the atmospheric, evocative and inventive music of Teppo Hauta-aho. In one extended movement and lasting around 10 minutes, this offers much to the adventurous and enquiring bass duo exploring the many tonal and timbral landscapes of this unique Finnish composer.

Double Poem Basso II is dedicated to David Heyes and Dan Styffe, subtitled 'In Memory of František Pošta', and was composed in 2009 on the 90th anniversary of Professor Pošta's birth in 1919. It was commissioned by David Heyes, with funds provided by LUSES in Helsinki, and was premiered on 4 October 2009 during Bass-Fest@Wells at Wells Cathedral School (Somerset, UK) by David Heyes and Teppo Hauta-aho, who had both studied with František Pošta in Prague - Hauta-aho in the 1960s and Heyes in the 1980s.

For over 40 years, František Pošta was the revered Principal Bass of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and was an important figure in Czech music for much of that time. He played as a soloist, gave masterclasses worldwide and commissioned and promoted many Czech works for double bass.

The Parts

The edition includes a score and two separate parts. The score can be used for performance and has been arranged to ensure that the page turns are possible.

About the Composer

Finnish composer and bassist Teppo Hauta-aho was the most prolific bass composer of our time and since the 1970s has 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.

More about the Composer

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.