A Classical Puzzle combines musical and technical challenges in equal measure and is aimed at the intermediate Double Bass Quartet or ensemble. Miloslav Gajdoš has a unique talent to write music that is idiomatic and inventive, showcasing the qualities and possibilities of the Double Bass, Quartet, and explores the entire range and register of the double bass.

This amazing three movement work has been created using themes from concertos of the Classical age, notably works by Dittersdorf, Vanhal, Hoffmeister, Pichl and Sperger. Each movement is a unique opportunity to perform a wealth of concertos with each theme like a beautiful piece of marble in an ornate mosaic or a piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

Miloslav Gajdoš has created a new work from older music which is an amazing addition to the quartet repertoire. How good is your knowledge of the Classical concerto repertoire? How many themes can you recognise? Surely this is a work for the musical detectives.
Miloslav Gajdoš writes: “The quartet was written for Klaus Trumpf, to mark his final time as Director of the double bass seminars at Kloster Michaelstein in Germany. My aim was to create a work that linked the music of the past with bassists of the present, and to celebrate the amazing work by Klaus to promote and publish many forgotten and unknown works from the Classical age. The themes have been put together in the form of a puzzle and there are opportunities for each bassist to play the melodic material. The quartet was first performed at Kloster Michaelstein in 1998 by Miloslav Gajdoš, Radoslav Šašina, Miloslav Jelínek and Klaus Trumpf.”