The Bass Concerto
Paul Desenne
About this work:
Commissioned by the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas and Alondra de la Parra for Edicson Ruiz, bass
Premiered at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York City in June 2006 with Edicson Ruiz, bass and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, conducted by Alondra de la Parra
PROGRAM NOTES
Presenting the soloist as Hero or mythological beast in contrasting tableaux is the central theme of this work. The role of the bass solo, treated conventionally as the leading and outstanding musical line, unfolds in a labyrinth of hybrid musical styles, creating a distance between the listener and the musical discourse; you hear this Minotaur struggling through dramatic moments, or dancing to the sounds of an asymmetric Son Cubano, or a disco riff, but the musical stream has something of the formal discretion and the spirit of pastiche exoticism of 1950s bachelor pad music - the feeling of a transposed world, of stage design. The romantic virtuoso is a museum figure today, and the virtuoso double bass adds a theatrical ingredient to the now outdated gymnastics of velocity and tightrope shows. These contextual values are used to build the Hero personage, but this solo bass is not merely a caricature of virtuosity; when its voice expands musically into the various spheres the orchestra proposes, it hits sincere notes. Yet these musical frames are placed in a certain way to keep emotions at a distance, they are self-contained, formal presentations, somewhat in the mode of Fellini, where nothing is taken too realistically and the seas are little more than sheets of plastic wrap swollen by air blowers.
"Sísifo" (Sisyphus) begins on what could be described as a heroic film set - the bassist is pushing his rock uphill under the rhythmic whip of the orchestra; lyrical interludes and carousel rides create a shifting dramatic plot that is finally squared off by two contrasting dances; the dark filmscore mood leads into a sparkling moment of pizzicati and riffs. The movement ends with an asymmetrical, modified Son Cubano, to which the hero plays under the spotlights of a Caribbean dance floor. A Latin, black-tie Sisyphus dancing to the strings of a tropical salón orchestra...
"La Noche" is also a bit of a wink to the orchestral kitsch of the Latin fifties, but the heart of the piece is a dark meditation of the solo voice over a recurrent, slow harmonic bipolar swing.
"Pink Bull" uses an ironic combination of flamenco and disco music. A sleek miniature drumset is played by a standing percussionist in front of the orchestra, on the conductor's right hand side. The vis-à-vis of the soloist and the drummer create a playful duo while the orchestra proposes a rhythmic mixture, alternating between binary dance and ternary flamenco meters without warning. The drummer might even improvise and take the lead on some of the binary dance rhythms, making it a double featured ending - a Minotaur at the discotheque, the unexpected destiny of a mythological figure.
- Paul Desenne
Version: For double bass and orchestra
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:17:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Orchestra with Soloist(s)
Instrumentation: ,1 Double bass soloist(s)
Instrumentation notes: 2 (II= picc).2 (II=E.hr.).2 (II=Bs.cl).2(II=ctrbsn)-2.2.1.1-timp.perc(2): cyms/picc snr/3toms/pdl bss tom/additional small (toy) drumset (standing player)/bngos/wdbl/assrtd
cwbl/sleigh bll/claves/sml maracas/castanets/güiro-strings (8.6.4.4.3 recommended)