Concerto No.2 'Haydn' A series of works based on the surviving two bars of Haydn's 'lost' Double Bass Concerto. Based on the two surviving bars of Haydn's 'lost' Double Bass Concerto and dedicated to David Heyes, this magnificent new concerto is a tour-de-force from a respected and leading Czech bassist-composer. In a tonal and accessible style, there are musical and technical challenges for the advanced bassist and this edition is only available in solo tuning. Influenced by the late 18th-century style, but imbued with Czech lyricism and influences, this new three-movement concerto is a major addition to the repertoire and utilises the entire range of the double bass. The concerto has been performed throughout Europe many times, most recently in Macedonia and Serbia by the composer. Miloslav Gajdos has composed and transcribed many works for double bass in a 40 year career and is Professor of Double Bass at the Vejvenovsky Conservatoire in Kromeriz (Czech Republic) alongside many international recitals and masterclasses. Concerto No.2 'Haydn' is available in three orchestrations alongside the published edition with piano. Please contact the publishers for more information about the various orchestrations. Performance Level: Advanced Miloslav Gajdos is one of Europe's most active and inventive bassist-composers. He was born in northern Moravia in 1948 and initially learned violin before transferring to the double bass, studying with Alois Kriz, Jiri Bortlicek and Ludwig Streicher. He has been Professor of Double Bass at the Vejvenovsky Conseravtoire in Kromeriz (Czech Republic) since 1971, and was a member of the Olomouc Symphony Orchestra for a number of years. He is Director of the Gregora International Double Bass Competition, founded in 1979 and held every two years in Kromeriz, and has been a juror at many competitions in Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic. Miloslav Gajdos is a prolific composer and arranger and, for almost 40 years, has produced a vast body of original works and transcriptions for double bass which are performed worldwide. His original works combine Czech lyricism and melody with brilliant technical demands, and music from one to sixteen double basses. He writes in a traditional and accessible style, producing music for every level of performer, particularly for the advanced bassist, and his many works for unaccompanied double bass are frequently chosen as international competition repertoire. Miloslav Gajdos was Recital Music's Featured Composer in 2007 and has recently revised a number of earlier works for the intermediate bassist which will be published by Recital Music.

Tchaikovsky - Canzonetta from the Violin Concerto, Op. 35 For Double Bass and Piano Tchaikovsky - CanzonettaMore Details Concert Score (6 pages) Double Bass Part in Solo Tuning (2 pages) Arranged and Transcribed for Double Bass by Michael Hovnanian Second Edition (Urtext), © 2008

Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original keys. They were placed in the library of the Music School in Oxford at the end of the seventeenth century in a form convenient for playing (i.e. unbound). The library was catalogued by Hake between 1850 and 1855 and the sonatas were eventually bound in 1855 with other instrumental and vocal manuscripts of the same period some of which are dated 1698.The sonatas are both inscribed on the title page Sonata à Violone Solo. Col Basso per l'Organo o Cembalo. A third sonata bears the words Sonata à Violino e Violoncino … di Giovannino del Violone. Giovannino(=Little or Young John) must have been a performer and although the third sonata has been copied by a different hand it is conceivable that Giovannino is a connecting link between the three. He cannot however be assumed to be their author.The Violone was a six-stringed instrument with frets and there is evidence to suggest that the Contrabasso of the same period was similar but probably a little larger; the Violoncino (=Little Violone or Violoncello) must have been smaller. The word 'Violone' was also used as a collective term embracing all members of the Viol family which means that the sonatas might well have been written for a tenor or a bass Viol and not necessarily a Violone as such. Indeed when they are played on a Violone or Double Bass the continuo bass line must be played at a lower pitch than the solo instrument to prevent inversion of the intended harmony. (The use of a Violone/Double Bass continuo or 16' organ tone would overcome this problem.)The editor has added no ornaments or embellishments to the solo part as it appears in the original manuscript. It is open to debate whether a Violone player owing to the very nature of his instrument would have used any but the simplest melodic decorations. Nevertheless the performer should acquaint himself thoroughly with those seventeenth century traditions that