Elina Vähälä & Niek De Groot - Duos for Violin & Double Bass (2018)

Tracklist
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01. Duo concertante per violino e contrabasso
02. Together for Violin and Double Bass: I. -
03. Together for Violin and Double Bass: II. -
04. Miniö, Op. 23
05. Symbiosis
06. (Re)Actio, Op. 18: I. Krieg
07. (Re)Actio, Op. 18: II. Frieden
08. Virág az ember (for Miyako)
09. Dyade for Violin and Double Bass
For this recording, Finnish violinist Elina Vähälä and Dutch double bass player Niek de Groot have chosen and performed seven pieces. When a violin and a double bass perform chamber music together, it is a case of two instruments encountering each other when normally they are poles apart and play together only alongside additional parts and colours. This is where the composers who have come forward for this adventure: should contrasts be accentuated, or should the two parts be united to form one "superinstrument", as Erkki-Sven Tüür had in mind? Should the two instruments be protagonists in a "narrative", or do they appear as representatives of fundamental principles of human nature - as in the yin and yang, as drawn upon by the Korean composer Isang Yun? Whichever path is chosen, pairing the violin and the double bass is so fascinating that even busy composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki and Wolfgang Rihm have written magnificent and highly individual pieces for this combination.