And what about Hans Werner Henze’s music? We know you love his music.
I love playing Henze’s Concerto and S. Biagio. I find it sad that his concerto is mainly ignored by bassists. If we bassists want the top composers to write for us, then we should also champion the works by top composers that have been already written. Daniele Roccato’s new recording of the Henze Concerto is superb. David Yavornitzky performed the concerto with Utah Symphony a few years ago too. In 2018 the Cincinnati Symphony was going to program Henze’s Concerto, but our music director wanted Koussevitzky‘s to pair with Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, which was commissioned by Koussevitzky. I hope to get the Henze programmed in Cincinnati another time.
During Covid lockdowns and isolation, I would learn new music or relearn music I performed in the past. When I got the music up to performance standard, I’d make a YouTube video then move on to the next project. This all helped keep me in shape throughout the Covid year since there were many weeks I was not needed at the Cincinnati Symphony. One of the pieces I relearned and made a video was Henze Bass Concerto. Pieces I learned for the first time include Christopher Rouse Bass Concerto, Françaix Thème varié, Levitin Sonata, Billè Etude in E major, Tyson Davis Tableau No. V, and Sam Adams No Solo, which was commissioned for me by the Cincinnati Symphony.
