Book 2 of Recital Music's ongoing Heritage Series.

Aimed at the intermediate bassist, all the pieces remain primarily in bass clef and, apart from a few easy forays into low thumb position, they offer few musical or technical challenges. Effective and interesting repertoire, useful as educational or concert music, each piece has a strong character and have been successful with many young bassists. There are musical and technical challenges in equal measure for the intermediate bassist and a wealth of 'new' music for the enthusiast!

GABRIEL-MARIE - La Cinquantaine
Gabriel Prosper Marie was born in Paris on 8 January 1852 and studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He adopted the hyphenated form of his name (Gabriel-Marie) as a professional musician and was a prominent and active figure in Parisian musical life in the late 19th-century. He worked as a timpanist, chorus master and conductor for many years, mostly in Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille and Vichy, alongside his work as a composer and music critic. Gabriel-Marie composed music for theatres in Paris, and also much dance music, but his fame largely rests on 'La Cinquantaine air dans le style ancien' composed in 1884. Arranged for almost every possible instrumental combination, the approachable and easy-going style of the piece has ensured its popularity into the 21st-century. Gabriel-Marie died on 29 August 1928 in Puigcerda (Spain).

GUSTAV SCHLEMULLER - Perpetuum Mobile
Perpetuum Mobile is an accessible and effective work for the intermediate bassist, offering musical and technical challenges in equal measure. Composed entirely in bass clef and using the orchestral register, this should appeal to bassists of all ages. The accompaniment is tonal and supportive, allowing the soloist to be heard throughout, and the repetitive semiquaver figures offer useful bowing challenges. Typical of music salon music on the late 19th-century, Perpetuum Mobile is an 'easy virtuoso' work which has long been out of print.

ROBERT SCHUMANN - Traumerei
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was an important German composer and is a typical example of the influence of literature on music in the early 19th-century German Romantic school. Much of his music is still at the very heart of the song, piano, chamber and orchestral repertoire today. Traumerei (Dreaming) is taken from Kinderscenen Op.15 (Scenes from Childhood). Originally for piano, Schumann composed about 30 short pieces from which 13 were selected for the suite. Each piece is written in a simple. though far from simplistic style, encapsulating many aspects of childhood. Traumerei is one of Schumann's most perfect melodies, with its subtly romantic and soporific accompaniment, producing a vignette of pur genius. This new edition for double bass is aimed at the good intermediate bassist offering lyrical and cantabile challenges in the orchestral register of the instrument.

ROBERT FUCHS - Lyric Piece No.2 [Op.96, No.2]
Robert Fuchs was a respected and prolific composer but is remembered today primarily as the teacher of Mahler, Korngold, Wolf, Sibelius, Zemlinsky, Schmidt, Heuberger and Schrecker. Born in Frauental (Austria) on 15 February 1847, Fuchs studied in Vienna and in 1875 was appointed to the teaching staff of the Vienna Conservatoire. He composed in most musical forms and his works create a link between the lyricism and late-classical style of Schubert with the profound and majestic symphonic style of Brahms. His two works for double bass [Three Pieces Op.96, Sonata Op.97] are largely neglected today, but these rare works for the intermediate bassist from the early 20th-century are worthy of revival today.
Lyric Piece No.2 is the second of Three Pieces Op.96, with an independent and evocative piano accompaniment, and a lyrical and late-romantic idiom make this accessible for the good intermediate bassist. Robert Fuchs died in Vienna on 19 February 1927.

Available in orchestral tuning only.

Performance Level: 6;7

Perpetuum Mobile (Schlemuller) has been selected for Level 6 by MTB Exams (www.mtbexams.com)