Recital: Alyssa Peterson '25, Double Bass

Sofia Gubaidulina | Sonata for Double Bass and Piano (1975)

Program note

Shostakovich was said to have warned Sofia Gubaidulina saying, “Everybody thinks you are going in the wrong direction… But I hope you will continue following that ‘wrong’ path.” Both Gubaidulina and Schnittke were one of three major Moscow composers of the post-Shostakovich era. Despite having her music blacklisted by the Soviet Government, she remains one of the most highly respected composers alive.
     Gubaidulina’s Sonata for Double Bass and Piano is composed in one extended movement, and while titled a sonata, it requires careful interpretation and execution to convey this, albeit loose, structure. Despite a distinct lack of traditional melody, every moment can be played in a singing manner and made to be almost hauntingly melodic.

Alfred Schnittke | Hymnus II for Violoncello and Double Bass (1974)

Program note

Alongside Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Schnittke was one of the leading Soviet composers of the post-Shostakovich era. While his music was never officially black listed, both he and his music were often viewed with great suspicion by the Soviet Government. It was around 1965 that Schnittke converted to Christianity and created a new style called “polystylism.” With this style, he combined music of various genres, past and present. Hymnus II brings both of these important elements to Schnittke’s life together, beginning with the inward, meditative quality of prayer only to be interjected by forces which puncture this feeling of serenity. Like many of Schnittke’s compositions, the ending disintegrates into the nothingness from which the hymn arose.

Stella G. Gitelman Willoughby | Establishing Space for Solo Double Bass (2024)

World premiere

Brace
In the Basement
Baseless

Program note

What is “space?” Is it an interval of time? A place? A feeling? Establishing Space for Solo Double Bass leaves room for interpretation and debate while supporting each of theseconcepts and ideas. Drawing upon the unique and varied sonorities of the unaccompanieddouble bass, each of the three movements explores contrasting textures and techniques tofurther define and establish a sense of space.
        Establishing Space for Solo Double Bass was composed for Alyssa Peterson. During ourdiscussions leading up to this project, we spoke about her appreciation for her instrument, and the sonic timbres that most deeply resonate with her. Alyssa characterizes her instrument as having “glowing overtones” and a “ringing” quality, and expresses her feeling of emptiness when the basses drop out in a culminating passage of orchestral music. To Alyssa, the double bass fills a rich, resonant, and foundational role, and is imbued with a love that she “can’t even put into words.”
        With Establishing Space for Solo Double Bass, the double bass and double bassist are offered a conspicuous moment in the spotlight - a solo, unaccompanied composition in which to establish, create, and enjoy their own space.
– Stella G. Gitelman Willoughby

INTERMISSION

Fred Lerdahl | Waltzes (1981

Grazioso:
     A congenial wind-up waltz
Con brio:
     Two Chopin walzes gone mad
Cantabile:
     A cello melody reminiscent of a tune in Swan Lake
Leggiero:
     String harmonics give a special twist to a passage in Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales
Valse triste:
     No Sibelius here, just soulful phrases slowly tossed between the violin, viola, and cello
Misterioso:
     Five against two within 3/4 time, in the ghostly guise of a presto minuet
Amoroso:
     Another nod to Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales, with passionate intent
Humoresque:
     A wild fantasy, with pizzicato and legno effects, climaxing in a quote from my Second String Quartet, accompanied by glissando harmonics
Vivace:
     A cress-accentual whirlwind
Lento:
     The double bass speaks from the depths
Delicato:
     An intimate duet for viola and cello, converting a 2/4 turn from Schumann's Carnaval into a waltz rhythm
Waltz-fugue:
     A veritable grande valse brillante, alternating with two fugal sections that culminate in quadruple inversion counterpoint

Program note

Composer and music theorist, Fred Lerdahl, born in Madison, WI, is best known for his work on musical grammar and cognition, rhythmic theory, pitch space, and cognitive constraints on compositional systems. It is with these tools that Lerdahl creates a musical form of his own invention and, in Waltzes, expertly draws upon inspiration from past composers while remaining true to this form. Lerdahl perfectly merges both past and present, and gives new life and meaning to masterpieces of classical music’s past. “The piece includes occasional references to the music of past composers, transformed to fit my syntax and style and the playful character of the work… The part-writing and motivic treatment, which are quite classical in spirit, are woven out of a harmonic and voice-leading system of my own invention, one that I have used in one form or another in a number of pieces. This system is “tonal” in an extended sense and allows for orderly progression across the extremes of consonance and dissonance.”                                                                                          
- Fred Lerdahl

Alan Ridout | little sad sound, a melodrama for speaker and double bass (1974)

Words by David Delve

Program note

little sad sound sees the double bass as a story-teller. Becoming a vehicle with which characters are brought to life, as well as the atmosphere that surrounds them. Unlike the other pieces on tonight’s program, little sad sound presents less of a technical challenge and more of a musical one. It pushes both narrator and bassist to bring what’s on the page to life, to truly embody the story and convey that to an audience. So just as an author must decide how to present a character and stay consistent, so must the performers. In this way, the narrator and bassist become authors in their own right.