A New World of Sounds Recent Advancements in Contemporary Double Bass Techniques

A new world of sounds Recent advancements in contemporary double bass techniques Revised project description, October 2009 Programme for Research Fellowships in the Arts in collaboration with the Norwegian Academy of Music Håkon Thelin Oskar Braatens gate 4 0474 Oslo Norway Email: [email protected] Web: www.thelin.no 1 Theme and goals The theme of this project comprises analysis and development of novel techniques for the double bass. The objective of the project is twofold: 1. Investigate novel playing techniques for the double bass as found in the works Zab ou la passion selon st. Nectaire (1981, ca. 30 min.) by Philippe Boivin, and Luciano Berio: Sequenza XIVb – Versione per Contrabasso di Stefano Scodanibbio (2004, ca. 15 min.). Analyses of these techniques will be compared to related techniques, where such exists in other works. 2. Develop new techniques for the double bass. The playing techniques I want to investigate and develop are mainly based on harmonics (tones where the natural fundamental frequency and some of its overtones are suppressed by lightly touching the string), multiphonics (complex sounds based on overtones), and percussive techniques. It is in combination with unorthodox bowing- and pizzicato techniques that quite new sounds have emerged. Knowledge of these techniques is still not widely established, as they only exist in a few cutting-edge works, played by a few dedicated performers. Through musical and technical analysis I want to master playing techniques that are used in the work Zab ou la passion selon st. Nectaire, composed by Philippe Boivin in collaboration with the French double-bassist Jean-Pierre Robert. It is especially necessary to learn skills in order to perform the percussive techniques in the work. Further, I particularly want to master playing techniques created by the Italian double- bassist Stefano Scodanibbio. Since 1980 Scodanibbio has been a central personality within the European art-music scene, through his own compositions, and through his development of novel techniques. With focus on Sequenza XIVb I want to work on, and elaborate on technical, timbral and musical issues, related to the special techniques of “harmonics” developed by Scodanibbio. No one has so far made a thorough study of the techniques he has developed. My second objective is to further the development of these playing techniques by composing several works, utilizing combinations of harmonics and multiphonics as well as percussive techniques. I hope that good knowledge of the novel techniques can facilitate the creation of new soundscapes. While many techniques are already established in the existing repertoire, the new compositions will serve as a musical overview over the current landscape and further paths possible. Novel techniques will also form the basis for a new work by the Norwegian composer Lars-Petter Hagen. As described, this project focuses on further development of already existing techniques, as well as developing entirely new ones. This focus will provide information about a new and complex musical field, for the benefit of performers and composers alike. As a performing artist I have experienced the importance of close collaboration between performers and composers for the diffusion of knowledge of novel techniques. Composers in pursuit of new sounds do well to contact experimental and unconventionally thinking performers who possess detailed knowledge of their instruments. 2 Project description Brief historical background From around 1900 and towards 1945 there was increasing interest in colourisation of music through the use of extended instrumental techniques in various branches of art music, from the orchestral continuation of the Romantic tradition, in expressionistic chamber works, through national schools and inspiration from folk music, to new and radical musical experimentation. The most important turning point for art music in the 20th century was without doubt the early breakdown of tonality. Broadly speaking, one can say that this turning-point provided a series of new tools that led composers into the direction that dominated the last century: Modernism. After 1945, composers and performers affiliated to the modernistic and experimental movements made significant contributions to the development of timbral possibilities in every group of instruments, and more specifically to the development of techniques on single instruments. At the same time, the paradigms in composing and thinking of music, both in America and Europe, made it necessary to rediscover traditional instruments, thus opening up for sounds previously unheard of. Serialism (as developed by the composers Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen) resulted in an extreme formalisation and individualisation of the four main parameters of music – pitch, duration, loudness and attack – and when, after a while, these conventional parameters began to be regarded as fully exploited, composers began looking for new ways to develop their music. Timbre as a musical parameter then established itself as one of the primary elements within the new music. In close interaction with the new formal composing techniques, a new generation of virtuosic performers emerged who aimed to extend their range of techniques and sonorities beyond the traditional techniques and to increase their repertoire of works for their respective instruments. The more specialized and virtuosic performers quickly attracted huge interest from composers who wished to expand their own musical horizons by taking part in the discoveries that were made on an instrumental technical level. Luciano Berio was one such composer, and his solo works seem to arise directly out of the relevant solo instrument or from the performer, and from the physical movements that are necessary to play the instrument. In his Sequenza series, consisting of solo works for a number of instruments, he collaborated with some of the best performers of his time, including oboist Heinz Holliger and singer Cathy Berberian. With Berio’s permission, Stefano Scodanibbio wrote a double bass Sequenza in 2004 based on Berio’s Sequenza XIV for cello. Double bass playing techniques have evolved enormously since the 1940s. The traditional techniques have been refined and new and untraditional techniques have been invented. Around 1960 a new generation of young, virtuosic and experimental double bass players emerged. These players were often active in both jazz and classical music. In jazz music, the development of a free and experimental style of playing was important for the development of the instrument. Within the classical music field the limited repertoire of original solo works led to bass players commissioning a great number of new works to expand the solo repertoire. One of the most prolific interpreters of new music on the double bass is the American bassist Bertram Turetzky. In the mid-1950s he began to commision new works for double bass, mostly by American composers, with the goal of creating a larger repertoire of original works for the instrument. To this date, over 300 works have been written for him, and several of his compositions have become standard in the new-music repertoire for double bass. Another of Turetzkys important contributions to the development and spread of new playing techniques is the book The Contemporary Contrabass (1989, rev.). The book presents a thorough theoretical review of contemporary playing techniques. In 1995, Jean-Pierre Robert published Modes of playing the double bass, to my knowledge the second book that describes both traditional and new playing techniques. Turetzky focuses on American works in his review while Robert focuses on techniques found mostly in European music. The most important performers on the European scene since about 1970 are Barry Guy, Jöelle Leandre, Fernando Grillo and Stefano Scodanibbio. They have created new and untraditional techniques through improvised and contemporary music, and have contributed to a greater focus on the double bass as a solo instrument, giving it a very important role within new music. Method The two main works Zab ou la passion selon st. Nectaire (Philippe Boivin) and Sequenza XIVb (Luciano Berio/Stefano Scodanibbio) form the point of departure for this investigation of existing playing techniques. I wish to master skills for performing the techniques that I find in the works by Scodanibbio and Boivin, examine and describe them, and then let my discoveries form the basis for development of new techniques that will be utilized in several new compositions. The main emphasis will be on my own works Glasperlenspiel, Light and naturale. In the review of the techniques I will also use other works, which I here call secondary works, to illustrate variations of the different techniques and to master performing skills. I will begin my study of the existing playing techniques by performing secondary works, which will lead to the performance of the main works towards the end of the fellowship period. The project is limited to the investigation of playing techniques that build on the basic techniques of arco and pizzicato. It is important to stress that the techniques are developed on an acoustic basis. I will not go into the amount of timbral variation arising from the use of various forms of amplification and electronic processing. My primary supervisor for this project is Professor Henrik Hellstenius at the Norwegian Academy of Music and my secondary supervisor is Stefano Scodanibbio. Which techniques do I wish

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