New EP: James Oesi, Acht Etüden Für Kontrabass Solo

James Oesi has released a new EP: Acht Etüden Für Kontrabass Solo by the influential composer Sofia Gubaidulina. It was recorded at the Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam.

Sofia Gubaidulina (1931) is one of the foremost contemporary composers, known for her innovative sound language and spiritual depth. Her Acht Etüden Für Kontrabass Solo (2009) are based on her Tien Preludes voor Solocello from 1974, a work that remained unpublished for a long time due to Soviet censorship. At the request of Alexander Suslin, Gubaidulina reworked eight of these preludes for double bass and restored the original title Etudes. The cycle explores various playing techniques and combines technical challenge with expressive freedom. In the final movement (Senza arco), improvisatory passages break through the notation, allowing each performer to bring a personal interpretation to the work.
James Oesi: “Sofia Gubaidulina’s Acht Etüden für kontrabass solo are a seldom played gem for the instrument. Gubaidulina manages to compress a great range of expression into very little time with these pieces and as always she masterfully balances how much room the performer has for their own interpretation and expression with the text of the work. Being etudes there is of course also an explicit technical component to these works which definitely made recording them at times intimidating!”

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