Diamond in a double bass setting

Gorbunov Nikolai Yurievich Professor; Department of Cello and Double Bass; Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory Concertmaster, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation; Rudin Double Bass Group 13/6 Bolshaya Nikitskaya str., Moscow, 125009, Russia olga.pletnikovaa@mail.ru

E. I. Podhaits– a composer who turned 75 in 2024, is known far beyond the borders of our country. He has a huge musical legacy, which, fortunately for listeners and professional musicians, is replenished from year to year with new opuses. There is not a single field that is not covered by his attention: along with operas, ballets, musicals, large-scale compositions for choir and orchestra, the author's chamber music is presented quite extensively for all instruments. And the Double Bass is no exception. In 1980, the first piece was written featuring the lowest–sounding stringed quintet for two violins, bassoon, piano and double bass. After a break of almost 30 years, Efrem Iosifovich turned back to the purely chamber genre for our instrument - in 2007, a sonata for double bass and piano was released from his pen. And recently, in 2019, he wrote the double concerto "Rendezvous" for domra and double bass with orchestra. There are two versions of this piece: one for domra and double bass, the other for domra and cello. Both options are valid and popular with instrumentalists ^[1].

The specificity of the double bass is determined by its place in the string group. On the one hand, this giant is indispensable as the harmonic foundation and rhythmic foundation of any orchestra, without it it is impossible to imagine jazz, ensembles with a double bass acquire a unique timbre coloring. On the other hand, the solo double bass is rather a curiosity for the audience. Unlike the violin and cello, it is not often heard on stage. This is due to several aspects. In addition to the fact that playing the double bass is associated with great physical exertion and requires a lot of effort and tension from a person, the repertoire of a double bass player cannot boast of an abundance of works. The problem of double bass repertoire has always been very acute. It was mainly replenished with the works of composing double bassists who knew the specifics of their instrument well, as well as arrangements of music by famous masters written for other compositions.

The sonata is one of the genres of chamber instrumental music. This form assumes a minimum number of partners, which makes it possible to maximize the musical potential of each of the participants in the action.

The first known sonatas featuring the double bass were written by the Austrian double bassist and composer I. Sperger (1750-1812) for the Viennese five-string orchestra. The 18th-century instrument had a three-quarter tuning based on the D major triad, unlike the modern four-string double bass with a four-quarter tuning.^{[2, p. 52]}. Sperger's music is distinguished by its exquisite melody, harmony of form and graceful virtuosity, which compensates for the difficulty in transferring the material to a modern double bass.

Unfortunately, chamber contrabass sonatas by 19th-century composers can be counted on the fingers of one hand. These are sonatas by Robert Fuchs and Adolf Mischeck.

R. Fuchs (1847-1927) was an Austrian composer, professor at the Vienna Conservatory, whose students included G. Wolf, G. Mahler, Jan Sibelius and other luminaries of musical art. His sonata is written in the best traditions of the Romantic era, refuting the layman's opinion of the double bass as a rude, clumsy instrument. The sound of the first movement is filled with such softness and transparency, so pastoral that one involuntarily recalls the words of I. F. Gertovich, an outstanding virtuoso double bass player, concertmaster of the double bass orchestra of the GABTa of the USSR, a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, that the double bass should sound like a violin, only more tender. Part 2 is amazing with its mysteriously magical pizzicato double bass sound and flickering flashes of melody at the piano. The character of the chiseled march of the third movement perfectly sets off the light, full of graceful plasticity of the second theme.

A. Mishek (1875-1954) was a Czech double bassist and composer, who began his career in Vienna, where he worked until 1918, after which he moved and lived until the end of his days in Prague. He wrote three sonatas for the double bass, but the "palm tree" justly belongs to the Second, in which the influence of J. Brahms is quite strongly manifested. The monumental four-movement piece, which will not be ignored by any self-respecting double bass player, is filled with a scattering of virtuoso passages, amazing in beauty and length of melodic phrases, akin to vocal and vibrant dynamic bursts.

In fact, these two sonatas were created and published at the very beginning of the 20th century, but in essence and in their inner content they serve as a vivid example of the romantic trend in musical art, so I completely agree with the statement of my teacher, Professor of the Moscow Conservatory L. V. Rakov (1926-2019), who also considered it legitimate to attribute them to the 19th century ^{[2, p. 174]}.

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of these two sonatas from the point of view of musical and artistic heritage. Nevertheless, such an ensemble deprivation often forces double bassists to invade the field of the cello repertoire, making arrangements for their instrument of J. H. Bach's sonata, the Second. Brahms, the third movement of the sonata by S. V. Rachmaninov, as well as violin sonatas by W. Mozart and S. Frank, French horn by L. Beethoven. Sonata by F. Schubert's "Arpeggione" has been adapted for many stringed and wind instruments, including the double bass.

The sonata for Double Bass and Piano (1949) by the outstanding German composer, conductor and music theorist P. Hindemith, together with the opuses of Fuchs and Mishek listed above, is included in the golden fund of the double bassist's repertoire. Created by the composer in the middle of the last century, the composition remains within a strict classical framework in form, but the musical language characteristic of the author's work flourishes with a riot of dynamic and timbre colors, broken melodic phrases, bizarre rhythm, tense harmony and linear polyphony, where the connection within melodic sound structures takes precedence over harmonic ones. The work is entirely based on quarto-quinto sound combinations, which mathematically outline the entire musical fabric of the sonata. The first two parts, bright and compact, are swept by a whirlwind of kaleidoscope-like images and serve as a precursor to the main, third part. The last part, thoughtful and detached, large-scale in form and deep in content, challenges the lightness and carelessness of the previous material with its unhurried narration. The solution of difficult artistic tasks in the work required putting the double bass and piano in the same conditions and endowed each of them with an equally complex technical part. They are in continuous interaction, weaving into each other, colliding and moving away, interrupting and finishing for the other. In the end, the dialogue between the two instruments gives special weight to each statement. The virtuoso double bass part raises the art of owning a string Goliath to an extraordinary height, revealing the professional ability of the musician to play to the limit of the capabilities of the instrument itself.

The development of musical art in the 20th century also affected the double bass, arousing interest in it from modern composers. As R. Azarkhin stated: "New musical and aesthetic requirements stimulated not only the evolution of musical forms and genres, but also the development of performing arts and the associated improvement of instruments, which in turn pushed the boundaries of creativity, providing it with new artistic opportunities" ^{[3, p. 62]}

Nowadays, the double bass has got a chance to establish itself on stage along with other solo instruments and become their worthy partner. Many composers write for the double bass specifically, using new sound production techniques, thereby contributing to the enrichment of the repertoire and technique of playing the instrument.

In the 20th century, the repertoire of chamber sonatas was expanded by the works of pianist and composer, professor of the Moscow Conservatory A. Nasedkin (1942-2014), in whose sonata one can see the authoritative influence of Hindemith's chamber composition on stylistic, rhythmic and formative features. Sonata by V. Dovgan (born 1953), composer, associate professor at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. It will require the performer to have a high level of mastery of the instrument in quarter-tone intonation, inconvenient jumps-upper-case transitions, sudden changes in metrorhythm and dynamics. Two editions of the sonata by Professor of the Department of Composition at the Moscow Conservatory A. Koblyakov (born 1951) and the sonata by S. Gubaidulina (born 1931) are replete with modern elements of compositional writing. The compositions are full of various sound production techniques: col legno, sul ponticello, sul tasto, playing behind a stand, pizzicato and pizzicato a la Bartok – sharp pizz. with the impact of strings on the neck, various taps and strokes on the shell, soundboard and fingerboard.

A performer should be open to new trends, and because of how developed his musical taste and professional flair are, he will be able to recognize and appreciate a talented work that will have a long stage life. The words of R. Azarkhin, spoken by him back in 1978, sound very modern: "The double bass player of today is obliged to master all modern performing techniques, because new artistic installations, even in terms of orchestral playing, impose requirements that only a comprehensively equipped performer can fulfill" ^{[3, p. 48]}.

One of the foreign authors is V. Montag (1908-1991), a Hungarian composer whose sonata tends to national rhythmics and melodies. Two sonatas by the American composer and double bassist F. Proto (born 1941), of which the sonata "1963" with a jazz style in one of the parts, written only using pizzicato, is most popular among musicians. More and more often, composers are interested in synthesizing different genres in one piece. This happened in the sonata for double bass solo by the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks (born 1946), with the inclusion of the singer's own singing in the last part of his composition.

Here is a far from complete list of works of the chamber genre of the last century.

The work of E. I. Podhaits symbolically opens the XXI century. For me personally, his sonata is unlike the others. It would seem that what new things can be written in the 21st century? How to surprise the listener? What kind of intricate melody, fancy harmony and synthesized timbres? Striking the viewer with external effects is one of the most popular, effective, but cheapest ways to gain short-term public attention. The sonata of Efrem Iosifovich catches, penetrates into the depths of the soul and stays there for a long time. It can be evaluated and analyzed, but it is impossible to compare it with others, and it is not necessary! She's different!

I was lucky enough to work with the author, communicate with him, get to know him better and understand what kind of person he is. One day, while listening to a chamber ensemble test at the conservatory, my attention was attracted by the performance of one of the students, making me start up and emerge from the sound stream of works performed on duty at the tests. Despite the student's playing, the music itself was striking in its freshness, novelty and strangeness. It was immediately clear that the piece was written by a master who knew well the nature of the sound of stringed instruments. Having found the notes of the contrabass sonata by Podhaitz, and this was it, I enthusiastically delved into the study of musical material. A little later, I asked the author for a personal meeting to discuss all the details with him. In communication, Efrem Iosifovich turned out to be a man without any fanaticism, but straightforward, open and attentive to the wishes of the performer ^[4].

I became passionate about music and performed the sonata everywhere, including it in all my performances. He has played in the Myaskovsky Hall, the Maly and Rachmaninoff Halls of the Moscow Conservatory, and the organ Hall of the Moscow State Music School. The Gnessins, in the Beethoven Hall of the Russian State Ballet. In 2016, the author made a recording for himself in the hall of the House of Composers, and in 2017, when the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory gave me the opportunity to record a solo CD of contrabass music, having allocated a large conservatory hall specifically for this event, I decided without hesitation to open my music album with the creation of Efrem Iosifovich. A little later, in 2022, the Moscow Conservatory released the Anthology "Modern Music for Double Bass", of which I am the editor, consisting of three sonatas by contemporary composers: E. I. Podgaits, V. B. Dovgan and A. A. Koblyakov.

Turning to the sonata over and over again, I discover it in a new way each time. The inner content of the work turned out to be so multi–layered, and the spiritual world so multifaceted that, combined with the experience, knowledge and musical tastes of specific people, all this gives a lot of different performance readings.

As a rule, modern music is more interesting to play than to listen to. The performer, over and over again, returning to the composition and orienting himself in the material, finds an explanation for all intonational, harmonic and rhythmic changes, combining seemingly disparate episodes into one single whole. The listener does not have time to sort out all the details at once and grasp the connections connecting the musical fabric.

Another thing is the music of a Podgayets! It goes from the composer's heart to the listener's heart. It interests the listener, excites him and fascinates him!

The sonata turned out to be a true gift to our instrument, a real gem in the repertoire of double bassists!

The composition is one-movement, and opens with a large contrabass solo that emerges from the depths of the stringed instrument's sound. In this prologue, as in a skillfully compressed sentence, Efrem Iosifovich masterfully outlined all the elements of the musical material that would later come into contact with each other, conflict and manifest themselves in various unexpected combinations.

The eternal dispute between good and evil has always been a relevant topic in art. The disagreement between the material and the spiritual is manifested not only in the opposite nature of the parties, but also in the conflict of the main means of musical expression – rhythm and melody. Sometimes the "jumping" rhythm, broken and deliberately grotesque, forces the melody to total submission, imposing on it the role of a servant. And the more assertive and aggressive the rhythmic dictation, the fiercer the resistance of the melodic paradigm. When these elements intertwine and engage in combat, the heated atmosphere becomes explosive and leads to a tragic outcome.

The beautifully constructed climax, located at the point of the golden ratio, throws off all the masks that had manifested themselves before: in the angular and geometrically disproportionate main part; in the feverish double stroke of the double bass, as if beating in chills; in the harmonic surges of the piano; in the form of convulsive buffoonish jumps and, finally, in the anthem of frankly ironic vulgarity.

In the reprise, when the elements begin to curl up into one ball, interrupting and crowding each other, the growing "choking" chaos breaks into the abyss of despair and pain at full speed. The chords of the lower register of the piano along with the alarm bell of the octaves, backed up by the loudest sounds that can be extracted on a double bass - pizz. with two hands crossing the open strings, they show the full depth of tragedy and bitterness, tearing and tormenting not the flesh, but the human soul.

It would be unfair to say that in the sonata, apart from the grotesque, there are few retreats into the world of hopes and dreams. Thus, the theme of the thoughtful introduction of the double bass, with which the work begins, appears like a memory of the piano after the tragic climax. It develops and transforms into an unusually aching and restless lyrical theme. Passing from key to key in the sequences, the upper voice seems to separate from the rhythmic supporting structure, dissolving into ritenuto and dim inuendo, thinning and disappearing. In the same way, the soul, trampled but not broken, having passed through suffering, freeing itself from the fuss, shackles, ridiculous masks imposed on it by society, unnecessary husks, is reborn and disappears into oblivion.

Since Efrem Iosifovich is "keeping up" with the times, he is keenly interested in new ways of sound production on the instruments for which he writes music. So there was an episode in the sonata where the double bass plays pizz icato on the fingerboard, imitating the sound of bongs. To achieve similarity, the instrument should, if possible, have a wooden headpiece (it resonates better than metal). This technique should be performed not by hitting, but by pinching-by sliding a finger off the top edge of the headrest. Combined with the col legno technique at a leisurely pace, these two elements sound unusual, convex and impressive.

The sonata ends with a large coda, which, after all the passions, is gradually fading away, with the exception of one episode. The last time the mask of vulgarity and banality makes itself felt is when the piano part with the theme of a rollicking march from development suddenly bursts into the "exorbitant" sound of the second octave of the double bass. But this fleeting echo of the past also quickly dissipates in the playing of the "heavenly strings" of contrabass flageolets and the "blurred traces" of the gliss ando flageolets going up. With a startled cry, the topic of vulgarity freezes. Retreating before the Higher Powers, she herself imperceptibly dissolves into the light. The transformation of the main party is interesting: it takes place in a major magnification, renewed and enlightened, losing its arrogant and defiant character.

The final scene – the sound of the double bass without the "bodily" piano shell takes on a completely different shade than at the beginning of the piece. The two main themes of the sonata come to mutual agreement and reconciliation. Reflection proceeds calmly, unhurriedly and a little detached, telling that only spirituality is the basis of the universe and moral development.

In an interview with the Musical Life magazine, Podhaits told about a French listener who described the composer's work very accurately, saying that there is a lot of modern music, but it is impossible to listen to it, unlike the maestro's works. People listen to it because it's Music! As the composer himself says: "Music is a simulation of human feelings. <...> I believe that melody, meter, harmony – everything that was abandoned in the 20th century - play a leading role in any music; it seems to me that this path is a dead end" ^[5].

Indeed, Efrem Iosifovich's writing style can be considered academic, it is so natural and harmonious that the listener immediately has a complete acceptance of the musical material. The author speaks about well-known things in modern language, but it is so understandable and so accessible to each of us.

I wish all musicians who come into contact with this sonata to immerse themselves in the artistic world of the composition, boldly follow the author's imagination and discover the deep meaning of this wonderful contrabass opus.