Double Bass Good Concert Band/Orchestra pieces with some noticeable Contrabass?

salmon256

salmon256

Jul 10, 2021
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#1
Hello everyone!

I've been trying to research finding more classical or more concert band pieces for contrabass. Not to play but to listen to. I'm more looking for just noticeable contrabass parts or at least heard well or given a cool mini solo or part. I know that's kind of hard asking for that, and I can already feel some unsatisfied replies already lol. But I had some people told me Sousa wrote decent DB parts down (unsure if that's true.) So any pieces will be appreciated since I really love to hear the Contrabass in it's full beauty! I'm not so much looking for concertos but they are welcome and will be loved!

In conclusion: Looking for some interesting pieces to listen to and hopefully one day add to the playing resume!

Have a great day everyone, have a great week! All the best! :)
 
#2
salmon256 said:
Hello everyone!

I've been trying to research finding more classical or more concert band pieces for contrabass. Not to play but to listen to. I'm more looking for just noticeable contrabass parts or at least heard well or given a cool mini solo or part. I know that's kind of hard asking for that, and I can already feel some unsatisfied replies already lol. But I had some people told me Sousa wrote decent DB parts down (unsure if that's true.) So any pieces will be appreciated since I really love to hear the Contrabass in it's full beauty! I'm not so much looking for concertos but they are welcome and will be loved!

In conclusion: Looking for some interesting pieces to listen to and hopefully one day add to the playing resume!

Have a great day everyone, have a great week! All the best! :)
Click to expand...

It is not uncommon for wind ensembles to have a double bass out on the flank to add a certain reediness (arco bass) to the mix with the low brass. For starters, you might try the two Holst suites for military band, readily available on YouTube.

Personally I would go with the Japanese ensembles, both professional and school, where I have seen anywhere from 0 to 4 DBs on stage. I find the production values of the Japanese videos superior to others. For one, the audio mix is impeccable in terms of sound quality. In terms of video, unlike the single camera angle for the entire performance, the Japanese train the camera on featured sections as they play the prominent part. The DBs, and even the tambourine and triangle players, get some face time.

Once you have found an ensemble that you like, see what else they have on YouTube. The instrumentation should be the same, and perhaps DB will be featured more prominently.
 
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#4
GretschWretch said:
It is not uncommon for wind ensembles to have a double bass out on the flank to add a certain reediness (arco bass) to the mix with the low brass. For starters, you might try the two Holst suites for military band, readily available on YouTube.

Personally I would go with the Japanese ensembles, both professional and school, where I have seen anywhere from 0 to 4 DBs on stage. I find the production values of the Japanese videos superior to others. For one, the audio mix is impeccable in terms of sound quality. In terms of video, unlike the single camera angle for the entire performance, the Japanese train the camera on featured sections as they play the prominent part. The DBs, and even the tambourine and triangle players, get some face time.

Once you have found an ensemble that you like, see what else they have on YouTube. The instrumentation should be the same, and perhaps DB will be featured more prominently.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the answer! I agree Japanese Orchestras mixed their ensembles really well! I've listen to a lot of pieces from this show called "Hibike Euphonium!" which really showcased low brass really well!
 
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