Rodrigo Mata: VIII Decennium for Unaccompanied Double bass
By Rodrigo Mata. Dedicated to Frank Proto and Teppo Hauta-aho on their 80th birthday
About the Composition
This work has been commissioned by master David Heyes, who is organizing a great celebration for the 80th birthday of the great composers and bassists Frank Proto and Teppo Hauta-aho. These great musicians, who have contributed so much to the musical literature of the double bass, have been the reason and the inspiration for the present work, which has had the intention of express in a brief musical moment, a few of the character and the colors that emerge of the works of these great composers and translate them into a new creation. The musical contribution that these great composers have made in the last 50 years is a large catalog of works that have allowed us to explore new sounds on the double bass, new stories to tell, new pieces to perform and are part of a unique and interesting repertoire that personally motivates me to continue playing my instrument and to continue composing for it.
"VIII Decennium" is a piece that uses the resonance and sustain of the instrument as a predominant resource, especially the open strings and harmonics. The introduction is presented with an insistent rhythmic figure that recites a melody between chords creating rich and warm support to the phrases, here full-bodied pizzicatos are used, letting some notes vibrate, the use of harp harmonics (technique provided by S. Scodanibbio), and the particular effect of multiphonic in this type of harmonic (technique provided by T. Hauta-aho). Subsequently, after a calm last pizzicato chord, a new voice emerges with the bow addition, this is the intermediate part in which two voices with different timbres (pizz and bow) carry out a small contrapunctus game, which gives way to the final speech that It transforms the previous rhythmic character into a small choral that gives a contrasting turn to the piece, using double notes and mixing high harmonics with notes from the lowest register played at the same time. It ends with a long and spectral note full of artificial harmonics obtained by the extreme vibrato, the use of the ponticello and the lightness in the bow. The last note is as the last tiny bell that sounds before the final silence and, as a musical joke, it is reminiscent of the combination of pizz and bow that developed in the middle of the piece.
This work has been premiered by Rodrigo Mata himself virtually in July 2020 for the "Quarentine Challenge" competition of the International J.M. Sperger Competition organized and directed by Christine Hook, remaining as a finalist. In the same way, it has been premiered in a virtual concert by MUSHAMUKAS double bass ensemble on August 12 from León, Mexico.
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