Masterclass: Bottesini’s Elegy in D major

This is my favourite solo piece for double bass. I first played it when I was 14 years old; every year that has passed since has brought me closer to an understanding of its essence. It is a masterpiece of instrumental bel canto, and its place is alongside the great arias of Bellini and Donizetti: its notes are tender, nostalgic outpourings tinged with melancholy, with continuously expressive lines. Bel canto demands poetry in breath, colour and the elegant shaping of every phrase. The whole piece should be in a slow pulse in four, so that when we take our time at the ends of bars as the music divides into quavers (𝅘𝅥𝅮), it creates a beautiful floating quality that captures this feeling of bittersweet reminiscence perfectly, as though we are lingering over a fond memory. The tempo and feel are very similar to those of the second movement of Bottesini’s Second Concerto.