Sonata for Contrabass and Piano Op.24 (1987) c.25'00"

I. Commodo
II. Adagio
III. Presto
IV. Tempo Primo

Commissioned with funds from the Jerome Foundation

Dedicated to Richard Frederickson

First performed on March 18th, 1989 at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC by Richard Frederickson, bass and Colette Valentine, piano

ABOUT

The Sonata for Contrabass and Piano Op.24 was completed on Christmas Day 1987. It is dedicated to Richard Fredrickson, who gave the work its world premiere. The Sonata is in four sections, which are played without pause. Each section makes use of a distinctive accompanying ostinato idea. The first section, marked Commodo, begins with a somewhat pastoral feeling, with a sarabande-like ostinato in the piano. The mood quickly becomes more agitated and leads to a group of chaconne-variations. The second section, Adagio, follows immediately; a slow and sustained nocturne whose melody makes use of the first few notes of the famous contrabass-solo from the fourth act of Verdi's Othello. After this, the third section, Presto, serves as a mordant and virtuosic scherzo. Forming a bridge between the third and fourth sections is a complete quotation of the Verdi passage. The fourth and final section is an abbreviated recapitulation of the opening section. The Verdi references are of no real programmatic significance, but rather incorporated for reasons of structural and motivic development, as a “musical pun,” so to speak.

RECORDINGS

REVIEWS

“Liebermann clearly understands the advanced performance techniques of the double bass. This piece, laden with everything from harmonics to trills, is a refreshing augmentation of the standard Baroque and Classical sonata…Well constructed, the sonata presents the bassist with technical, musical, rhythmic, and harmonic challenges.”
American String Teacher