Recorded in Prague 2023 on September 22, in the Bohuslav Martinů Hall of the HAMU

Performed by Božo Paradžik, double bass
and Maria Sofianska, piano

Impressive early Brahms' masterpiece. He composed this powerful movement in age of 20 and it should have been a part of the sonata composed by three composers, after an idea by Robert Schumann. The sonata was a present for Joseph Joachim, who became later a legendary violinist. Brahms wrote later plenty of pieces for J. Joachim. Joachim kept the manuscript of the F.A.E. sonata and allowed during his lifetime only for Scherzo to be printed and published.

I've listened this piece on radio when I was 16. It fascinated me and I got a powerful wish to play it on my double bass. I wrote down the music by hearing (I didn't find any printed music) and tried to play it in average an octave lower than in this video and it was very disappointing, how badly it sounded when I've tried it, LOL. So there we are again, almost 40 years later, now I've finally converted my old dream into the reality. Tuning of the double bass here is: cGDA, with high C string (in fourths). I doubt any other tuning will work for this composition.

#beautifulmusic #romanticmusic #brahms #doublebass