Reports from the Low Country (CD, Channel Classics)

This program showcases the broad stylistic spectrum of Dutch music. Spanning a period of more than fifty years, it focuses on the double bass. Contemporary composers Louis Andriessen, Hans Kox, Martijn Padding and Michel van der Aa have all enriched the double bass repertoire. In their works, the instrument takes the solo role in a concerto with orchestra, is heard in a small ensemble and even on it’s own. Andriessen, the best known Dutch composer today, wrote his Elegy for Cello or Double Bass and Piano in 1950, while Kox’s Four Studies for Double Bass Solo dates from 1988. The most recent pieces on this recording are Reports from the Low Country by Padding and For the time being by Michel Van der Aa. Everything here is played with virtuosity and style by Rick Stotijn.