Battered Bass

This month's lunchtime concert at Heriot-Watt again featured a section leader in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, this time the Principal Double-bassist, Nikita Naumov. Solo pieces for the double bass are rare, but who could have thought that such a wide range of harmonics and texture could be drawn from such a large, cumbersome, instrument.

Born in Kazakhstan and initially trained there, then in St Petersburg and London, he now plays and teaches in Edinburgh. For such an eminent musician his instrument appears decidedly scratched and battered, in fact it is not even an instrument of quality, but there is a reason for this. It belonged to his first teacher, and as good instruments are much more difficult to obtain in Kazakhstan, as it deteriorated he had patched it up as best he could. Sadly, the teacher died a month before Nikita was to give a concert for him, and Nikita was given the double bass, and treasures it. How long it can remain playable depends very much on the skills of instrument restorers. 

My blip is taken as he warmed up before the concert.