David Heyes writes: "I have always enjoyed rediscovering music which has either been forgotten or overlooked. Double Bass music tends to remain in print for a limited time, apart from things like Simandl's Method or the Dragonetti/Nanny Concerto, and libraries or national collections are often the only place to find these long-lost treasures. Serge Koussevitsky (1874-1951) is known to many as the famed conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra but was also one of the important commissioners of new music during the 1930s and 40s. To bassists he is known as one of the mighty handful, alongside Dragonetti, Bottesini and Gary Karr and his four salon works and concerto are still performed extensively today. Less well known is that a number of works were composed for him during his solo career in the early decades of the 20th-century with the 'Duo' for bassoon and double bass by Albert Roussel being the most well known. One work which has fallen under the radar, and which Recital Music will publish in 2018, is the 'Fantasie Op.11' for cello and double bass by Mikhail Bukinik (1872-1947). The one movement work is dedicated to Koussevitsky and was first published around 1911 by P. Jurgenson (Moscow/Leipzig). In orchestral tuning and primarily in the orchestral register of the instrument, the double bass is by no means the lesser partner and there are challenges aplenty which should make this a welcome addition to the popular duo repertoire. Bukinik was a Ukrainian cellist, composer and teacher and had a busy and successful career in Russia, although also lived in Germany, France and Switzerland, and in 1922 emigrated to America. As a cellist Bukinik includes many challenges in the cello part, particularly his use of double stops, and his other published works include technical and virtuoso studies for cello, but there is plenty for both musicians to 'get their teeth into' and would make a great contrast to the Rossini 'Duetto'. A long-lost musical masterpiece? Probably not, but the Koussevitsky link is a nice one for bassists and it would be good to play this duo over a century after it was first published."
