The Swan, by Saint-Saens. I'm sure there are lots of other bass arrangements out there. PDF attached, editable Lilypond file here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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Double Bass Easy classical or romantic solo pieces?
- Thread starter Ben Crowell
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- arrangements mozart repertoire solo
This is beautiful - I had never heard it before. After playing the transcription I looked it up on Spotify. So nice. Your teacher also transposed it down a whole step for some reason.
Thanks for posting it.
Who's fingerings are those? I reserve the right, backed by 50+ years of playing and teaching, to opine that they are really odd.
They're mine, so yeah, not surprising that they're weird/wrong, since I'm a total beginner on bass. (My previous experience was on viola.)
All I'm mostly trying to do is get the glissandi to happen and get the long notes on 1 and 2, where I'm more comfortable playing vibrato. I don't really have a usable vibrato on 4.
If you want to suggest changes to the fingerings, that would be great, thanks.
Now that you mention glissandi, I assume the first 3 notes are all on the A string? The better fingering, to keep that shift a bit shorter is 4-2-1. That's how a cellist would play it, but bear in mind that fifth is way smaller on a cello. And I wouldn't do it twice in a row. Here's Yo-Yo. Notice his first drop of a 5th is shifted, the second played across the strings. Now that I understand your intention there, and that you are avoiding 4th finger a lot, I'll happy to suggest some fingerings throughout. In a couple of hours I'll post it.
Okay, here's some, not every possible, suggestions for fingerings, ignoring your 4th finger issue. 
This piece, in this register is actually challenging. I could spend a lot of time going over the nuances with you. I'm happy to do some Zoom time if you want. Also, I checked with the original and corrected some articulation, particularly that figure in measure 3. Playing it as originally written, and not all slurred makes it easier to execute.
Sorry for my sloppy handwriting. It appears to be genetic.
This piece, in this register is actually challenging. I could spend a lot of time going over the nuances with you. I'm happy to do some Zoom time if you want. Also, I checked with the original and corrected some articulation, particularly that figure in measure 3. Playing it as originally written, and not all slurred makes it easier to execute.
Sorry for my sloppy handwriting. It appears to be genetic.
Thank you so much for doing that. You're really very generous with your time and expertise!Okay, here's some, not every possible, suggestions for fingerings, ignoring your 4th finger issue.
1906, from what I remember; Serge Koussevitzky himself was a big fan of modern and neoclassical music, but most all of his writing was pretty firmly in a late romantic context from what I recall.
Romantic music lasted longer than most people think, too—while the wider art movement of romanticism lost prominence in the mid-19th century, the movement persisted in the musical realm into the early 20th, overlapping with some of what we generally consider more standard 20th century stuff.
You can kinda make the argument that Koussevitzky, Fauré, Rachmaninoff, Glazunov, Elgar, and the like are all "transitional/bridge" composers in the way that argument is made for Beethoven being the bridge between classical and romantic.
In case anyone is interested, here is my revised version of the Bach bouree (cello suite 3). I'm getting to where I can play this, although not at anywhere like a real tempo. Editable Lilypond file here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Then I'd go for this, but also, just go slow with the Marcello - every new note is a victory.
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Young-P...74625327&sprefix=bach+for+the+,aps,129&sr=8-1
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Damen, I don't think by "going slow" you mean tempo. But I struggled with the Marcellow in E minor for years till I heard it played on You Tube a few years ago and realized that I was trying to play it at over twice the intended tempo. I still have the green book with the piano arrangement and bass sheet that were given to me at my one and only bass lesson by my one and only bass teacher in KCMO in '62 or '63. I don't remember his name but if I had stayed with him I coulda bin a contender.
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Most definitely romantic. At the very tail end of the Era, but absolutely romantic.
