Description

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 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.