Teppo Hauta-aho: Viva Lucca! for unaccompanied double bass

Viva Lucca I

(dedicated to Alberto Bocini) makes extensive use of the harmonic range of the double bass, often double stops, creating an ethereal and evocative sound world which is occasionally grounded by a pizzicato open string. Premiered by Alberto Bocini in the Chiesa si San Romano (Lucca, Italy) on Saturday 4 August 2018.

Viva Lucca II

(dedicated to Gabriele Ragghianti) is lyrical and effective, employing arco and pizzicato in equal measure, with much to say and to challenge within its limited time frame. Premiered by Gabriele Ragghianti in the Chiesa di San Romano (Lucca, Italy) on Saturday 4 August 2018.

Viva Lucca III - David's Story

(dedicated to David Heyes) uses the letter's from David's name to create the melodic material. An introduction, played almost entirely in harmonics, leads into a lyrical and sonorous section before moving into the higher register, eventually returning and ending with a series of strummed pizzicato chords. Premiered by David Heyes in the Boccherini Auditorium (Lucca, Italy) on Friday 3 August 2018.

Viva Lucca IV - Dan's Story

(dedicated to Dan Styffe) is played pizzicato throughout and explores the lower orchestral register before introducing a more lyrical theme in the solo range. Harmonics are used to add contrast and interest and the piece ends simply with a repetition of part of the opening theme. Premiered by Dan Styffe in the Chiesa di San Romano (Lucca, Italy) on Thursday 2 August 2018.

Viva Lucca V - Dan's Encore Miniature

(dedicated to Dan Styffe) is also played pizzicato throughout with movement and energy interrupted by strummed double stops. It ends with an atmospheric coda played in ringing harmonics, played in the lower register, gradually descending before ending simply with open E.

Cover Photo: Sarah Poole

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.

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.