Giovanni Bottesini

Studi (tratti dal 'Metodo per contrabbasso')

Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) is certainly the most famous of all double bass virtuosi; his compositions are an essential pillar of the literature on this instrument. His Metodo, published in 1870 by Ricordi, is remarkable for the exceptional beauty of its studies which, with effectiveness, good taste and imagination, develop an extraordinarily modern pedagogical vision. For this reason, on the bicentenary of the composer's birth, it seems most opportune to re-propose the studies in the method, appropriately fingered according to the current system, which is different from the one used in Italy in the mid-19th century. These short pieces not only help the student to acquire an excellent technique in a short time, but they are also extremely useful to better understand the instrumental language of Bottesini; in particular the second part, constitutes an excellent propaedeutic base for the study of his famous pieces.