Modern American Bass
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80722     Release Date: 2011-11-01

Robert Black, bass John McDonald, piano

In the twentieth century, a series of instruments and ensembles have found their repertoire expanding exponentially, and their place on the classical stage suddenly front and center, instead of accompanying from the wings. The contrabass and viola were the last of the string instruments to make the leap to this prominence, and Robert Black’s recital on these discs shows the remarkable emergence of the former as a leading voice for the most intimate and imaginative musings of American composers from the last century.

Black’s program falls into two parts. Disc 1 features music for bass and piano, Disc 2 the instrument unaccompanied. It also breaks down chronologically, with the former works largely earlier and more traditional in character, the latter later and more experimental/avant-garde. The works for accompanied bass show the first step taken toward instrumental “equality”: It becomes a lyric partner with the piano like any other string instrument. Composers come to realize that the exceptional range of the instrument, combined with its rich and differing timbres from one register to another, make it uniquely expressive. And the bass’s importance in jazz is mirrored in a new interest in active rhythms and pizzicato textures.

When we move to the unaccompanied works, a new conception of the bass emerges. In the postwar years, a series of factors combined to create a new instrumental practice, one combining elements of theatricality, a concentration of unusual sounds and techniques, and extreme virtuosity.

Robert Black

Modern American Bass

MP3/320 $31.00
FLAC $31.00
WAV $31.00
2xCD $50.00
Sonata for Double Bass and Piano: I. Con moto
Joseph Iadone
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Sonata for Double Bass and Piano: II. Adagio
Joseph Iadone
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Sonata for Double Bass and Piano: III. Scherzo
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Arioso and Etude: I. Arioso
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Arioso and Etude: II. Etude
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Lyric Piece for Contrabass and Piano
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Sonatina: I. Andante
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Sonatina: II. Allegro ma non troppo
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Sonatina: III. Poco lento ma ben ritmico
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Suite for Bass and Piano: I. Moderato con moto
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Suite for Bass and Piano: II. Not too slow
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Suite for Bass and Piano: III. Allegro moderato
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Movement for Double Bass and Piano
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Sonata for Bass Alone: I. Meditative
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Sonata for Bass Alone: II. With relaxed motion
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Sonata for Bass Alone: III. Recitative and March
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Monody II
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For Double Bass Alone: I. Rubato
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For Double Bass Alone: II. Allegro ritmico
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For Double Bass Alone: III. Moderato
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59 ½ " for a String Player
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Beast
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Valentine
Jacob Druckman
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