I've said here before that the Telemann 12 Fantasias for solo Viola da Gamba are just as complicated as the cello suites while actually sounding good on the instrument. I would, instead, point bassists to gamba repertoire instead. The above paragraph will probably be considered a pretty hot take, and have people disagreeing with me. Some people have done some work on the Violin Partitas and Sonatas (also by Bach), and they sound a bit better but still struggle with similar issues. I frankly think they sound awful on the double bass and are an exercise in futility. Wolf, but uses fewer extended techniques, so it poses its own unique challenges to the player.Īs for solo music swipe from other instruments, Bach's cello suites are often played, to the point that they've become canon in university teaching repertoire. It's more serial in composition than B.B. uses a lot of extended techniques and requires you to speak and play at the same time.įailing by Tom Johnson is also a classic, and also requires you to speak and play. this is closer to 19th early 20th century harmonies, whereas the Weinberg is much more pantonal.ī.B. Suite in the Olden Style by Hans Fryba, which is also set up in a baroque dance suite style. Despite its labelling it's really set up like a baroque dance suite (like the Bach cello/keyboard/lute suites). I did this on my grad recital and it's a great piece. There are a huge amount of solo pieces from the 20th century, however, and some of them are really great. this might actually be early 20th century? I don't really know when it was composed in Bille's lifetime, which spans the turn of the last century. Organalis by Isaiah Bille, which is held in a few libraries but I don't think is in print any longer. This is basically the only unaccompanied work I can conclusively verify is from the 19th century.

So, no one wrote for it.ġ2 Solo Waltzes by Dragonetti, available from Henle publishing. this is because before the 19th century, the instrument was not considered a solo instrument. Basically everything actually written for the bass is from the 20th century, with one or two exceptions.

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