Bass Trip

Peteris Vasks from Latvia, who is known for his atmospheric pieces for string orchestra "Cantabile", "Musica dolorosa" and "Voices", is concentrating increasingly on chamber music.  He was commissioned to compose a ten-minute solo for double bass for the 2003 ARD music competition in Munich.  As Vasks himself studied the double bass, it is an effective virtuoso piece well suited to the instrument which awaits the performer, and there is what is probably a very unusual surprise at the end: the player sings (or whistles) a simple waltz melody as a serenade to accompany himself.