WINGATE: METAPHYSICAL MONOLOGUE NO. 9
for Double Bass Solo

Date:
2023

Duration:
6'30"

Notes:
The proclivity of double bass to produce crisp, rosin-dusted staccato notes with either of its bow species (the French or the German), as well as the indescribably dusky profundity of its characteristic tone colors were both major inspirations for the Metaphysical Monologue No. 9, which contrasts and highlights both of these aptitudes while wrapping them around elaborations of the piece’s tone row, namely:

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    [ C  F#  A  B  A#  C#  G  D#  D  G#  F  E ]

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Wingate’s fondness for low instruments in general is well documented in some of his other works, including the Metaphysical Monologue No. 5 for contrabass clarinet, and his Imaginary Overture to Medea (for orchestra of low instruments). The lyric potential of the double bass (or its other marvelous appellation, the ‘bull fiddle’) has historically gone somewhat unrealized, even in the more notable solo concertos for the instrument by Dittersdorf, Dragonetti, Koussevitzky, and Menotti. But this seemingly ponderous instrument is capable of a surprising agility, evinced for example in the lively Tarantella showpiece by 19th century bass virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889), or in any recording by the magnificent bassist Gary Karr. This Monologue’s primary inspiration, however, comes from the resplendently dark and introverted Double Bass Sonata by Sofia Gubaidulina, composed in 1975, which the composer performed while studying the double bass in the 1980s.