Double Bass

Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (April 7, 1763 – April 16, 1846) was a double bass virtuoso and composer, born in Venice, Italy. He lived there for 30 years and worked at various opera houses before moving to London, England. There he played at the King's Theatre, and lived there the rest of his life. Dragonetti knew Joseph Haydn and Ludwig...

Louise Farrenc (May 31, 1804 - Sept. 15, 1875) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer. Born in Paris, she started the piano at an early age, and later on also showed a knack for composition. At the age of fifteen, her parents let her study composition with Anton Reicha at the Paris Conservatory. Later on she embarked upon a...

Giovanni Bottesini (Dec. 22, 1821 - July 7, 1889) was an Italian conductor, composer, and double bass virtuoso, born in to a musical family. Young Bottesini learned much about music from his father, a clarinetist, and was playing timpani with an orchestra at the tender age of 11. He also played violin, and intended to study at the Milan Conservatory...

Antonio Scontrino (May 17, 1850 - Jan. 7, 1922) was an Italian double bassist, composer, and professor. He studied at the Palermo Conservatory from ages 11 to 20, and also studied in Munich. He began performing as a double bassist in 1891, and eight years later taught composition at the Palermo Conservatory. He also taught counterpoint at the conservatory in Florence...

Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (April 7, 1763 – April 16, 1846) was a double bass virtuoso and composer, born in Venice, Italy. He lived there for 30 years and worked at various opera houses before moving to London, England. There he played at the King's Theatre, and lived there the rest of his life. Dragonetti knew Joseph Haydn and Ludwig...

Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (Jan. 11, 1875 - June 23, 1956) was a Russian/Soviet composer and violinist born in Kiev, of German-Polish descent. Son of a wind instrument maker, Glière showed talent as a child, and entered the Kiev School of Music in 1891, studying the violin. In 1894 he entered the Moscow Conservatory, and graduated in 1900, after composing a one act opera entitled "Earth and Heaven", and winning a gold medal for it. Glière would later go on to teach in many conservatories, including those of Kiev and Moscow. Continue reading →

Serge Alexandrovich Koussevitzky (July 26, 1874 - June 4, 1951) was a Russian composer, conductor and double bassist. Born in to a musical family, his parents taught him violin, cello, piano, and trumpet. At 14 years old he won a scholarship to study the double bass at the Musico-Dramatic Institute of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, where he excelled in his studies. Continue reading →

Giovanno Bottesini (Dec. 22, 1821 - July 7, 1889) was born in Crema, Italy, and began his early musical education with his father, an accomplished clarinetist and composer. Later on in his life, Bottesini wanted to enter the Milan Conservatory on violin, but lacked the funds. The school only had two scholarships available, for bassoon and double bass. Within a matter of weeks, Bottesini prepared a successful audition on the double bass, and four years later began touring as a soloist, known as "The Paganini of the double bass". Continue reading →

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (Nov. 2, 1739 - Oct. 24, 1799) was an Austrian composer and violinist. Introduced to the violin at the age of six, he was able to take lessons thanks to his father's financial position, and one of his violin teachers was able to get him in to a church orchestra when he was only eleven years old.  Continue reading →

Giovanni Bottesini (Dec. 22, 1821 - July 7, 1889) was an Italian conductor, composer, and double bass virtuoso, born in to a musical family. He's celebrated in the world of the double bass, but sadly not as well known outside it, despite his many orchestral and operatic compositions.  Continue reading →