SKU: BT.YE0009
Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original keys. They were placed in the library of the Music School in Oxford at the end of the seventeenth century in a form convenient for playing (i.e.unbound). The library was catalogued by Hake between 1850 and 1855 and the sonatas were eventually bound in 1855 with other instrumental and vocal manuscripts of the same period, some of which are dated 1698.The sonatasare both inscribed on the title page Sonata Violone Solo. Col Basso per l'Organo, o Cembalo. A third sonata bears the words Sonata Violino e Violoncino â?¦ di Giovannino del Violone. Giovannino (=Little, or Young John)musthave been a performer, and although the third sonata has been copied by a different hand, it is conceivable that Giovannino is a connecting link between the three. He cannot, however, be assumed to be theirauthor.The Violone was a six-stringed instrument with frets, and there is evidence to suggest that the Contrabasso of the same period was similar but probably a little larger; the Violoncino (=Little Violone, orVioloncello) must have been smaller. The word 'Violone' was also used as a collective term embracing all members of the Viol family, which means that the sonatas might well have been written for a tenor or a bass Viol, and notnecessarily a Violone as such. Indeed, when they are played on a Violone, or Double Bass the continuo bass line must be played at a lower pitch than the solo instrument, to prevent inversion of the intended harmony. (The use ofa Violone/Double Bass continuo or 16' organ tone would overcome this problem.)The editor has added no ornaments or embellishments to the solo part as it appears in the original manuscript. It is open to debate whether aViolone player, owing to the very nature of his instrument, would have used any but the simplest melodic decorations. Nevertheless, the performer should acquaint himself thoroughly with those seventeenth century traditions thatare known today (see Dart.
SKU: HL.48181643
UPC: 888680846268. 9x12 inches.
Johann Adam Birkenstock: Sonata (Classiques No.45) (Double Bass & Piano).
SKU: HL.48181582
For double bass and piano.
SKU: SU.80103049
Three movements: 1. Prologue-Cadenzas, rhythmically free through most of its length; 2. Threnody , a more introspectiv e slow movement; 3. Scherzo: Perpetuum mobile, in a quick unrelenting triple meter. Scordatura tuning of a whole step higher is used for the double bass Duration: ca 15' Published by: Columbia University Music Press.
SKU: HL.50482164
UPC: 073999821642. 8.25x11.75x0.14 inches.
SKU: BT.YE0036
Four movements, top part advanced. Several recordings and many broadcasts. Duration c.13'.Programme Notes:The Swiss composer Joseph Lauber was born at Ruswil near Lucerne in 1864. After studying with Heger in Zürich and Rheinberger in Munich, Lauber worked with Diémer and Massenet in Paris. With Massenet he learnt a great deal about orchestration, a subject that he subsequently taught until the end of his life at the Geneva conservatoire as well as piano and composition. He died in 1952.Lauber's 193 catalogued works are many and varied. He wrote for all instruments and in every genre except oratorio and opera. Among his output areseveral works for double bass, most written for Prof. Hans Fryba, a personal friend with whom he worked as a double bass and piano recital duo. Fryba was one of the leading players in Europe in his day and was principal of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. First was Theme and Variations (1936-7) and a Rhapsodie with orchestra (1937). Three Walzes followed in 1939, a Gavotte and Gigue, a Sonata and then in 1943 Fantasie de Concert, written for the Geneva Competition. Four Caprices appeared in 1942, the same date as the Quartet for double basses which was dedicated to Fryba and written for the Berlin Philharmonic Double Bass Quartet, one of the first ever such ensembles to exist. The Quartet for double basses was revived by Klaus Stoll in the 1970s for the Philharmonic Double Bass Quartet at that time to play. It was subsequently published in 1975 by Yorke Edition by kind permission of the composer's son Edmund Lauber. Rodney Slatford 2004
