Rodrigo Mata: Raindrops for solo double bass
About the Composition
One of my most valuable sources of inspiration for composing a musical work is "nature" and for this work, I have taken "rain" as the main idea, a natural phenomenon that, in different ways, has disturbed and pacified some moments of my life. In the search for textures and sound colors that represent the “rain” in its different facets and in the exploration of various double bass techniques, I have put together melodies, chords, rhythms, and effects in a single musical discourse, preserving a sense of perenniality.
In the beginning, as an obbligato, two tinkling natural harmonics appear, executed with the flageolet pizzicato technique (harp pizzicato), which are harmonically interchanged throughout the entire introduction, but are present in many sections of the piece, after being immersed in the insistent sound of the harmonics, the main theme emerges, presented with the traditional pizzicato technique in combination with some hammer pizz., double stops and harmonic glissandi.
A series of arpeggios performed with a fusion of pizzicato techniques is presented immediately as a transition that groups together the traditional pizz, the flageolet pizz with the left hand (harmonic and normal note), and the peculiar Bi-tone technique (a technique used by the Norwegian composer Håkon Thelin in his work “Amarcord” for double bass solo). Subsequently, a funky line full of energy that contrasts with the previous serenity is presented. And reaches its climax when introducing the bow that, as with pizzicato techniques, seeks to produce different sound textures.
This new bow section begins with a low suspended tone on an open string that produces different timbres by changing the position of the bow between the bridge and the fingerboard. As a second transition, a new series of arpeggios emerges from the resonance of the open string that is complemented by the combination of normal notes and natural harmonics on the same nodes and that leads to a very expressive and melancholic theme to end on a new suspended tone, this time highly and very delicately, that simultaneously dissolves itself as the tinkling of the beginning reappears and finally the initial theme returns as a small coda, releasing the last drops of rain.
Comissions
This work has been commissioned by David Heyes and co-commissioned by Sarah Poole, Lynn Hannings, Susan Hagen, Sergio Barbosa, Simon Garcia, Dominic Dudley, Elizabeth Harre, Lucy Scanlon, Chris Clark, May Halyburton, Marcos Machado, Dave Whitla, Phil Parker, Chris Kosky, Jacob Gifford Head, Malcolm Healey, Eric Hansen, Martin Penning, David Murray, Luciano Golia, David Desimpelaere, Rob Nairn, Davide Botto and Joel Quarrington. And it is dedicated to the memory of the great master František Pošta.
More about the composer
double bass part