Double bass excerpt · Audition repertoire
Strauss, Don Juan, Op. 20
The low string part of the opening gesture, fast, wide, and requiring the section to match the upper strings exactly.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Double bass
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Work
- Don Juan, Op. 20
- Era
- Late-Romantic (c. 1880–1910)
- Composed
- 1888
- Tempo
- Allegro molto con brio
- Clef
- Bass clef
- Level
- Audition, professional standard
- Audition list
- Yes, standard excerpt
How to practise it
The bow style, the trouble spots, and the stylistic decisions that come up most often on this excerpt.
Bowing
Broad and committed. Tentative playing is inaudible in this texture.
Where it goes wrong
Matching articulation with strings that speak faster than a bass does means starting the note fractionally earlier.
The shifts are wide and fast; practise the position map before the tempo.
Tags
Work on the technique underneath
Arco's bass curriculum builds the bow strokes, positions, and clef reading this excerpt assumes, with recorded bass playback throughout.