This semester my youth orchestra is making us choose solos as well as playing the mahler 1 solo and a tchaik 4 excerpt. I have recently completed the Koussevitzky Concerto and will be using it in a concerto competition. Although i think my koussevitzky is decent i see problems with auditioning with it without accompianment. Any opinions?
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Double Bass problems with solos
- Thread starter nfblackburn13
- Start date
I think it would be fine as an audition piece.
It is a very commonly requested piece for auditions, and not all auditions require/allow for accompaniment, so jurors understand that not all of the gestures in the piece will sound appropriate when it is played as a solo work.
In my opinion, you should be ok with it - Just keep it simple and you will be fine.
It is a very commonly requested piece for auditions, and not all auditions require/allow for accompaniment, so jurors understand that not all of the gestures in the piece will sound appropriate when it is played as a solo work.
In my opinion, you should be ok with it - Just keep it simple and you will be fine.
Oh yeah those, I played the whole thing this year in my youth symphony. Those are not as bad as they seem, all scales, but the articulation and speed make them tough.
Heres a little page the principle of the NSO made about the Mahler solo. Interesting read and might help a little. Link Removed
Best of luck.
And.
Best of luck.
And.
There is another thread in the Orchestra Technique side of the forum that has additional information on the Mahler solo, just fyi. . .
To quote a famous American Principal Bass that shall remain nameless: "If you can't play a minor version of a nursery rhyme tune then you have no business performing."
...that's a pretty narrow-minded view. There's a lot more to the Mahler 1 solo than it just being a "minor version of a nursery rhyme tune."
(this one is also absolutely true) At the prestigious american conservatory that I have attended the main Ear Training professor / virtuoso pianist who has literally accompanied every famous soloist who does recitals in the area has regularly told his students that the Koussevitzky Double Bass concerto is "the WORST piece of music ever written."
and as for the Mahler Solo, I have to agree with the fore-mentioned quote. Every other instrument has to play REAL orchestral solos and bass players are whining about a d minor scale in an uncomfortable part of the bass.
