Viennese Bass Method - Lesson 13.

Lesson 13. - Standard Solo Bass Repertoire

In this lesson we will introduce the most common pieces from the standard repertoire that are playable on the Viennese tuning. These pieces however are intended for the steel string setup without period frets, as they are conceived for the modern instrument and assume different shifting patterns.

The initial examples by Koussevitzky will demonstrate a unique benefit of shared top A sting that enables the modern literature to be performed with hardly any alteration. Thus, all the performer needs to do is play these pieces as on the modern instrument, but with the awareness of those few notes that "stray" out of the top string. By this approach one can actually play the period tuning in a matter of seconds and also quickly acquire a sense for the period notation The top string notes and fingerings will already be very familiar - only their notation will differ. The second movement of the Koussevitzky concerto can also be performed on the single string, yet here the phrasing makes itself perfectly suited for the advanced harmonic-based fingerings, so these are indicated. Fascinating but true: Sperger could have performed Koussevitzky by using his advanced technique - and with plenty of vibrato too!

The Bottesini pieces are also playable on the Viennese tuning and require only minor alterations. In the famous Elegy the top string approach preserves all the original harmonics too. The B minor concerto follows this pattern, yet with more of an F# string use, and a practical demonstration of this piece in Viennese tuning can be heard at the Music Samples page. Those who are well acquainted with the piece may recognize a small but necessary alteration in the cadenza sample. Otherwise, the ambitus in these pieces is not an issue, because Bottesini's lowest string is the same as the Viennese fourth A string.

Lastly, in the Hindemith Sonata sample, we will see that even the 20th century polytonal literature can be performed on the Viennese tuning. As the piece was conceived for the tuning in fourths, it uses open strings periodically, thus requiring the Viennese arrangement to be centered around the bottom two strings. This unfortunately makes the original harmonics inaccessible except as arranged. Yet surprisingly, the entire remaining corpus of regular pitches can be played without any alteration! Moreover, sometimes a true single-position Viennese fingering can be used too, as seen in the Lied. Finale Allegretto section.

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Posted:          December 4, 2009