The Cry of the Double Bass: a compositional research project.

Analysis of a preliminary work.

By
Sebastiano Dessanay
No self-respecting composer would write for double bass, hed have more taste. And
if he ever did, then it would be as a joke. This quote from the Patrick Sskinds play
The Double Bass not only contains the protagonists personal point of view on the
instrument and its repertoire, but also reflects a cultural perception of the double
bass. Misperception as an awkward instrument has dissuaded many composers
from writing for it throughout history. Consequentially, luminaries of the double bass
were often double bassists who out of frustration turned their hands into composition
(Sskind).
My background as both a double bassist and composer allows me to be in a
privileged position to fully appreciate issues raised in Sskinds play. Frustration
pervades the narration, emerging from the technical limitations of instrumental
practise and the relationship between the classical double bassists of today and the
masters of the past.
My compositional project will attempt to resolve the aforementioned sense of
frustration using the double bass and its performer as a means to explore new
musical material using modern techniques and technologies.
The creation of new music material can be interpreted as a cathartic act through
which both performers and audiences frustrations will hopefully be released. My role
as composer will serve as a catalyst, encouraging this redemptory process. This
paper will present an overview of my project, illustrating issues and techniques that
have arisen through my research and analysing a preliminary composition.