A new history of the double bass. Paul Brun Productions. Domenico Dragonetti in England (1794-1846): the career of a double bass virtuoso.

Domenico Dragonetti Background information Birth name Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti Born 7 April 1763 Died 16 April 1846 (age 83), Genres Occupation(s),, Instruments Years active 1790–1846 Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (7 April 1763 – 16 April 1846) was an and with a 3 string double bass. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of and worked at the, at the and at the Grand Opera in. By that time he had become notable throughout and had turned down several opportunities, including offers from the.

In 1794, he finally moved to to play in the orchestra of the, and settled there for the remainder of his life. In fifty years, he became a prominent figure in the musical events of the English capital, performing at the concerts of the as well as in more private events, where he would meet the most influential persons in the country, like the and the. He was acquainted with composers and, whom he visited on several occasions in, and to whom he showed the possibilities of the double bass as a instrument. His ability on the instrument also demonstrated the relevance of writing for the double bass in the separate from that of the, which was the common rule at the time. He is also remembered today for the Dragonetti, which he evolved throughout his life. Domenico Dragonetti c. Dragonetti was born in of Pietro Dragonetti, a barber and amateur musician, and Caterina Calegari.

He began playing the guitar and the double bass by himself on his father's instruments. He was soon noticed by Doretti, a violinist and composer of ball music, who took him along for public performance in Venice. At the age of twelve, he was placed under the tuition of Berini, the best master for the double bass in Venice, who decided after only eleven lessons that he could not teach the boy anything more.

At the age of thirteen, Dragonetti was appointed principal player at the Opera Buffa in Venice. At fourteen he was appointed principal double bass player in the Grand Opera Seria at the San Benedetto theatre. When about eighteen, in, he was invited to join the quartet of the Tommasini, and was noticed by,, who indulged him in auditioning for the admission in the Chapel of San Marco. He made a first attempt in 1784, which was lost to Antonio Spinelli. He finally joined the institution on 13 September 1787 as the last of the five double bass players of the Chapel with a yearly income of 25. He soon became the principal bassist. He later was offered a place by the Tsar of Russia, which was declined and got him a salary raise in the Chapel.

He became very famous at the time, started playing solo pieces, which was exceptional at the time for the double bass, and even got elected as of the directors of a musical festival held for the coming of fourteen sovereign princes to the. One of his was particularly remarked by the queen of. When in Vicenza for an engagement at the Grand Opera there, he acquired his famous double bass from the Benedictine Nuns of the Convent of San Pietro (La Pieta) in Vicenza, which is now housed in the museum of. He was offered another position to the Tsar of Russia, which he declined after the procurators of St Mark increased his salary to an exceptional 50 ducats. They even granted him a leave for a year, with a continuation in his wages, to go to the King's Theatre in London.

That leave was extended for three more years afterwards, but finally Dragonetti never returned to Venice for more than a brief period during the French occupation of the city, 1805-1814. The King's theatre at the time of Dragonetti. Dragonetti had no close family, but had many close friends in the musical world in London. The story that he kept and often traveled with a collection of life-sized cloth mannequins, bringing them to his concerts and having them placed in front row seats of theaters, and even introducing one of these dolls as his wife, is completely unsubstantiated. He was an avid collector, and did indeed collect dolls, sometimes taking one along on trips to amuse the children, of whom he was very fond. He never did learn to speak English, expressing himself in a mixture of Italian, English, French and Venetian dialect, but was an astute businessman, and in fact, helped his surviving family in Venice financially.

The authoritative source for information on him is the book of Dr. Fiona Palmer, Domenico Dragonetti in England (1794–1846) pub. Oxford University Press London 1794-1846 [ ] He left Venice on 16 September 1794, partly under the influence of his friend, Giovanni Battista Cimador, and participated in the first rehearsals at the King's Theatre, on 20 October 1794 and finally appeared as orchestra member in the Zenobia in Palmira, by, on 20 December 1794. After only a few months, he became very famous in London, and his brilliant career was to last till the end.

Later he became intimate with the Prince Consort and the Duke of Leinster. He took part between 1816 and 1842, in forty-six concerts held by the. At the Italian Opera orchestra, he met the Robert Lindley, who became his close friend and with whom he shared the stand during fifty-two years. They made a specialty at playing 's. At the age of 82, Dragonetti visited in August 1845 to participate in the 3-day music festival held as part of the inauguration of the there. Various major Beethoven works were conducted by and. He died in his Leicester square lodgings at the age of 83 and was buried on 23 April 1846 in the vaults of the Roman Catholic chapel of St Mary,.

Bosch Dishwasher Sgs65m08au Manual Lymphatic Drainage there. In 1889 his remains were moved to the Roman Catholic cemetery. And Count ( of 's ) were among his most famous friends in London. Vienna [ ] In 1791-1792, Joseph Haydn accepted a lucrative offer from German impresario to visit England and conduct new with large orchestras.

The visit was a huge success and generated some of his best known work. Another trip was therefore scheduled in 1794-1795. On that second occasion, Haydn met Dragonetti, who became a very good friend, and who visited him in Vienna in 1799. On that first trip to Vienna, Dragonetti also met Beethoven in a famous encounter.

I'm not sure what folder this topic belongs in. Anyway, I bought this last year and I consider it a must for anyone studying the bass. Written by Paul Brun, whom I think is an orchestral bassist, it goes over how this instrument evolved. He disproves certain assumptions such as the double bass descending from the bass viol.

It was a new instrument and the antithesis of the bass viol which were meant for quiet settings with small ensembles as string quartets and the like. Double bass was meant to fill large halls with low frequencies. There was orignally no set size.

Double basses came in all sizes from not much larger than a cello to huge towering monsters. The most famous of these is the Octobasse which stands a little over 12 feet high but these was not close to the largest. Brun mentions two American basses in the 19th century that were bigger. One stood 13 feet high and the other a whopping 15 feet high! He mentions a huge bass made in England that reportedly nearly toppled the building in which it was being played by its maker (a hole had to be cut in the ceiling to stand it upright). When told by the proprietor that he was making the building fall, the man shouted exuberantly, 'Let it!' Brun points out how the evolution of symphony orchestras paralleled the evolution of the double bass.

Actually, he points out that cellos were originally called 'double bass' but the title was transferred to the bigger basses to avoid confusion. He talks of the greater and smaller choirs with basses strategically placed around stage. There was also the basso continuo when the symphony broke down into a smaller unit during the performance. Basses were so huge that young, strong men had to play them because they wore out older men.

These basses had huge, thick gut strings that required the wearing of gloves. It was not unusual to see bassists collapse in their seats to catch their breath during live performances. The strings were so thick that they turned as they were being stroked making very low notes impossible. At this time, there were no conductors. The principle bassist was the conductor. He kept the orchestra playing in time. Dragonetti was an unparalleled master at uniting orchestras.

Then there was no set standard of how many strings a bass had nor how they were to be tuned. The lowest note was so hard to hear that many orchestras went to 3-string basses especially for soloing. These remained popular into the 1920s.

Wenzel Hause was a big advocate of 3-stringers and his successor at the Prague Conservatory, Hrabe, did away with the gloves. Dragonetti, btw, played a bass that was 9 feet tall and called 'The Giant.'

When steel strings finally arrived, basses could be made smaller and could reach low notes that required far larger basses during the gut string era. The double bass as we know it is really a modern invention. Expensive though.

I bought it for like $128 online and that was the cheapest I found. Another was $138 and another was around $180. I guess it's a rare book. It should be a college text for anyone studying bass at that level. I'm not sure what folder this topic belongs in.

Anyway, I bought this last year and I consider it a must for anyone studying the bass. Written by Paul Brun, whom I think is an orchestral bassist, it goes over how this instrument evolved.

He disproves certain assumptions such as the double bass descending from the bass viol. It was a new instrument and the antithesis of the bass viol which were meant for quiet settings with small ensembles as string quartets and the like. Double bass was meant to fill large halls with low frequencies. There was orignally no set size. Double basses came in all sizes from not much larger than a cello to huge towering monsters.

The most famous of these is the Octobasse which stands a little over 12 feet high but these was not close to the largest. Brun mentions two American basses in the 19th century that were bigger. One stood 13 feet high and the other a whopping 15 feet high! He mentions a huge bass made in England that reportedly nearly toppled the building in which it was being played by its maker (a hole had to be cut in the ceiling to stand it upright). Driver Update Software Download Free. When told by the proprietor that he was making the building fall, the man shouted exuberantly, 'Let it!'

Brun points out how the evolution of symphony orchestras paralleled the evolution of the double bass. Actually, he points out that cellos were originally called 'double bass' but the title was transferred to the bigger basses to avoid confusion. He talks of the greater and smaller choirs with basses strategically placed around stage.

There was also the basso continuo when the symphony broke down into a smaller unit during the performance. Basses were so huge that young, strong men had to play them because they wore out older men. These basses had huge, thick gut strings that required the wearing of gloves. It was not unusual to see bassists collapse in their seats to catch their breath during live performances. The strings were so thick that they turned as they were being stroked making very low notes impossible.

At this time, there were no conductors. The principle bassist was the conductor. He kept the orchestra playing in time. Dragonetti was an unparalleled master at uniting orchestras. Then there was no set standard of how many strings a bass had nor how they were to be tuned.

The lowest note was so hard to hear that many orchestras went to 3-string basses especially for soloing. These remained popular into the 1920s. Wenzel Hause was a big advocate of 3-stringers and his successor at the Prague Conservatory, Hrabe, did away with the gloves. Dragonetti, btw, played a bass that was 9 feet tall and called 'The Giant.' When steel strings finally arrived, basses could be made smaller and could reach low notes that required far larger basses during the gut string era. The double bass as we know it is really a modern invention.

Expensive though. I bought it for like $128 online and that was the cheapest I found. Another was $138 and another was around $180.

I guess it's a rare book. It should be a college text for anyone studying bass at that level.