Wot no double bass?

[bassace]

As I watched the First Night of the Proms with the Elgar Cello Concerto played for the umpteenth time I thought wouldn't it be great to hear a work for double bass. A Bottesini concerto perhaps? Any ideas?

[zbd1960]

I suppose the best-known is the Dittersdorf, but on a different tack there is Koussevitsky, better known for piano works.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

How many currently active virtuoso double bassists are there with Gary Karr level name recognition among the general populace?

At community orchestra the other week one of the violinists asked me how long I'd been playing the cello

[neilp]

We have two of the world's finest players here in the UK, David Heyes and Tom Martin. To be honest though, even Gary Karr was never a household name like,say, James Galway. You'd never get enough bums on seats at the Proms for a double bass performance. The Dittersdorf is a nice thing to play, but honestly doesn't stand up in quality against the well known concerti for other instruments. The greats didn't write for bass and orchestra, and there's a reason for that.

[Bilbo]

I lived in the same town as Heyes when I took up the double bass the first time. Called him up for lessons. He only taught during office hours so that was the end of that.