Unbound Symphony

Do you love the Double Bass? Hear Rebecca Lawrence @rebassca play the opening bars of the Concerto for Double Bass by Dr. Sarah Bassingthwaighte @sarahbassingthwaighte and the Unbound Symphony!

WATCH FULL VIDEO ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yT6ZcL7Xqw

Unbound Symphony's Inaugural Performance: July 10, 2026
Double Bass Concerto by Dr. Sarah Bassingthwaighte
Rebecca Lawrence, double bass soloist
Dr. Anna Edwards, conductor @annaedwardsconductor
Denise Dillenbeck, concertmaster @violindenise
I - Lacrimosa
II - Scherzo
III - Pesante furioso

PROGRAM NOTES
The first movement (“Lacrimosa”) is serious and dramatic. Both the bassist and I experienced some very painful losses the year it was composed, and this movement expresses some of that grief. At its climax, the bass blends into the orchestra with a tutti fortissimo—the woodwinds and upper strings in a flurry of runs, the brass doing glissandi, and the low strings and low winds pounding out the four-note motive. After all of this, you’re left to grieve—alone and quiet. Also, the ending has a surprise bass technique—watch for it! “Scherzo” lightens the mood with bouncy, syncopated rhythms performed by percussion and pizzicato strings. The percussion gets to pull out some of their fun auxiliary instruments, including temple bells and castanets. In the middle of the movement, the bass plays a seven-note pattern over the percussion’s three-beat pattern, intentionally feeling loose and ungrounded. In the bass part, you’ll hear glissandos and string slapping. The final movement (“Pesante furioso”) is the piece’s high-energy climax. The music is often somewhat dissonant, but it’s always directional. It’s challenging to find a balance between the bass and the orchestra, and rather than thinning the orchestra in this movement, I chose to have them alternate so the orchestra wouldn’t overpower the bass. The middle of this movement slows to a dark, mysterious scene, with a persistent four-note ostinato that’s traded through the winds, brass, percussion, strings, and harp. Fairly quickly, the music returns to the driving bass themes, pushing toward the dramatic final repetition of the opening statement.