Moby Dick features five short and colourful quartets for the beginner bass quartet. In 1st position throughout, apart from a few easy harmonics in 4th…
Moby Dick features five short and colourful quartets for the beginner bass quartet. In 1st position throughout, apart from a few easy harmonics in 4th position to add height and clarity, these would be ideal for quartet or larger forces and the movements can be performed in any order.
A number of playing effects have been added to create variety and interest, alongside arco and pizzicato and a limited number of notes, rhythms and time signatures suitable for young bassists. Repeats can be added if needed, alongside a narrator to set the scene for each piece, and the aim is for the bassists to have fun.
Moby Dick is a great addition to the beginner quartet repertoire enabling young bassists to play chamber music from the earliest stages of study.
I. Queequeg, harpoonist extraodinaire
II. Pequod, the whaling ship
III. Starbuck, the chief mate
IV. Moby Dick, the white whale
V. Captain Ahab, hunter of whales
“Composed with the beginner bassist in mind, this set of double bass quartets were written utilising the notes in 1st position on the A, D, and G strings (both bowed and plucked) as well as the open E string (plucked only). To add a bit of tonal interest, three 4th position harmonics are used as well: D (played with the first finger on the G string), A (played with the first finger on the D string) and E (played with the first finger of the A string).
An expanded sonic palette is also achieved through the use of percussive effects – tapping the body of the instrument with the left and right hands and snapping the strings against the fingerboard, referred to as “Bartok Pizzicato”.
The titles of these short movements are associated with personalities, creatures, or things of interest encountered by Ishmael in the famous 1851 novel entitled “Moby
Dick”, originally “The Whale”. As the story progresses our narrator becomes best friends with a tattooed islander known as Queequeg, the son of a tribal chieftain and formerly a headhunter by profession – the two of them sign up for an extended whaling adventure aboard the nineteenth century Nantucket whaling ship named the Pequod, captained by one Captain Ahab. Ahab himself has apparently had an unfortunate meeting at some point in his past with a very large and somewhat famous white whale known as Moby Dick, who has somehow managed to bite off one of Ahab’s legs, leading to a powerful obsession with vengeance on the part of the now one-legged captain. Ahab’s
“chief mate” aboard the Pequod is a chap named Starbuck, a stanchly reverent Quaker whose wife and child await his return back in Nantucket – a responsibility which weighs heavy on his mind as he confronts the various dangers of his voyage.
Ishmael’s story sets an exciting narrative – hopefully the adventure bleeds just a bit into the musical story these little quartets attempt to share.” [Michael Montgomery]
