At the start of my efforts to become a bass soloist, I figured that most of the original works for solo bass were by composers no one had ever heard of… Dragonetti anyone?…Bottesini…Koussevitzky?
No matter how good they were, I took the view that unknown music played on an unknown instrument by an unknown person, particularly an unknown woman, was not a good idea. I couldn’t change the person or the instrument, but I could change the music. So I set about arranging well known works for bass and piano. Vaughn Williams’ Greensleeves Fantasia….Massenet’s Meditation from Thais…Granados’ Andaluza etc. Blow the wind Southerly… Indeed, if I liked it, I tried to arrange it.
As a selling policy, it worked and I did get bookings which then enabled me to introduce original works for solo bass such as Bottesini’s Elegy, Meditation and Tarantella, Koussevitzky’s 3 salon pieces, thus proving to a sceptical public that there was indeed, a sizable repertoire of eminently listenable works written for solo bass.
Being married to a wonderful violist was also a help in that he experienced much the same scepticism in those days regarding the viola’s suitability as a solo instrument. It seems extraordinary to write this today, when the viola has become such an important and recognisable solo voice, but this is a recent phenomenon. When I heard Roger playing Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata, I silently vowed that I would get to play it someday. Fortunately, Gary Karr had the same idea and his teacher, Stuart Sankey made a wonderful arrangement for bass. My other favourite was Schumann’s Marchenbilder (Fairy Tale Pictures) which entranced me. I had to transpose the piano part up a tone which was a huge task, but I loved performing it. Bach unaccompanied Cello Suites, as well as the Gamba Sonatas…endless enjoyment and challenge.
Having been a keen listener to Max Jaffa and his Palm Court Orchestra in my early life, I have never lost sight of the value of light music in creating programmes for general listeners. I was not alone in this, because many contemporary composers writing for solo bass must have had the same idea. Paul Ramsier and Serge Lancen and others created perfect suites comprised of easy listening imaginative movements…totally enjoyable on all levels.
My schools concerts, which were such a big part of my zeal to change peoples’ perception of the bass were just stories of Bartholomew the Beautiful Bass initially, using works from my everyday repertoire. Gradually, over time these somewhat laboured accounts morphed into a complete story entitled ‘How the Trees Learnt to Sing’. It is a fast moving tale which lasts exactly 30 minutes with plenty of joining in from the audience….of whatever age.
Here is a list of some of the works which I performed during my 20 years. They come in no particular order. I had thought to asterisk the ones I really liked playing but then realised I really liked them all:
| Own arrangement | Londonderry Air |
| Koussevitzky | Concerto op 3 Valse Miniature Humoresque Chanson Triste |
| Paul Ramsier | J S Bach Preludes & Gallantries… Divertimento Concertante on Couperin Theme |
| Gliere | Intermezzo Prelude |
| Faure | Sicilienne |
| Bottesini | Concerto in B minor. Tarantella Elegy Reverie Melodie Introduction and Gavotte Melodie Introduction and Variations on Carnival of Venice Grande Duo Concertante Duo Concertante |
| Paganini | Moses Fantasy |
| Hoffmeister | Concerto no 2 Concertino no 2 |
| Henry Eccles | Sonata in A |
| Vivaldi | Sonata no 3 |
| Bloch | Meditation and Processional |
| Schubert | Arpeggione Sonata………..Ave Maria |
| Couperin | Pieces en Concert |
| Hindemith | Sonata |
| Schumann | Marchenbilder (Fairy Tale Pictures) |
| Alec Wilder | Small Suite for Bass and Piano |
| Leitermeyer | Basskontraste |
| Granados | Andaluza Madrigal |
| Dragonetti | Grande Allegro |
| Arthur Butterworth | Sonata op 47 |
| J C Bach | Adagio |
| Lucas Drew | Second Sonatina |
| Granville Bantock | Pibroch |
| Rossini | Une Larme Pour Basse |
| Ravel | Piece en forme d’Habanera Pavane pour une enfant defunte |
| Debussy | La fille aux cheveux de lin |
| Tom Johnson | Failing |
| Howard Ferguson | 5 Irish Folk Songs |
| Dvorak | Songs my Mother taught me |
| Mendelssohn | Song without words no 1 |
| Tchaikovsky | None but the Lonely Heart |
| Horhut | Variations on ‘The Hippopotamus Song’ |
| Nat D Ayer | Pell Mell |
| Van Goens | Scherzo |
| Rachmaninov | Vocalise |
| Saint Saens | The Swan The Elephant |
| J S Bach | Gamba Sonata no 2 Unaccompanied Suites 1 2 3 |
| Bach/Gounod | Ave Maria |
| Mancini | Pink Panther |
| Stanley Myers | Cavatina (The Deerhunter theme) |
| Gershwin | Porgy and Bess Suite arr Horhut/Naish |
| Liszt | Hungarian Rhapsody no2 arr Horhut/Naish |
| Lorenziti | Gavotte aka ‘The Fly and the Elephant’ |
| Vaughn Williams | Fantasia on Greensleeves |
| Anon | Greensleeves to a Ground |
| Chappell | Paddington Bear |
| John W Bratton | Teddy Bears’ Picnic |
| Boccherini | Rondo |
| Horhut/Naish | Double Bass Dreaming |
| Cuthbert Clarke | The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God |
| Gareth Glyn | Welsh Incident piano/orchestra |
| Olwen Lewis | Cadwyn o Alawon Gymreig 5 WelshFolk Songs..Piano (Orch by Gareth Glyn) |
| Marin Marais | 5 Old French Dances |
| Mozart | Per Questa Bella Mano |
| Ilona Sekazc | Serenade for Bass and Orchestra |
| Dalwyn Henshall | Concerto for Bass and Orchestra Scarborough Fair for Bass and Harp |
| de Falla | Suite Populaire Espagnole arr Naish |
| David Heyes | Scenes of Snowdonia |
| Ernesto de Curtis | Torna a Surriento arr Horhut/Naish |
| David Rose | The Stripper arr Horhut/Naish |
Repertoire for the Musical Saw
My accidentally becoming a musical sawist turned out to be one of the more fascinating and useful parts of my professional career. Finding repertoire has never been a problem, since the world is full of fantastic melodies and sumptuous musical shapes. For the player, the only challenge is to have them fit into the saw’s register.
Here are some of my current list:
Over the Rainbow
On Wings of Song
Song of India
Great British Medley comprising
Greensleeves..Skye Boat Song | Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn | The Last Rose of Summer
Strauss Medley
Blue Danube
Roses of the South
Solveig’s Song
Spiegel im Spiegel
Whispering
Under the Bridges of Paris
The Best Things in Life are Free
La Vie en Rose
Summertime
Moonlight Sonata
