Elliot, a beneficiary of the Michael Hurd Fund for Young Musicians, is playing Koussevitzky’s double bass concerto opus 3 and ‘Kicho’ by Astor Piazzolla on Tuesday, 18 March, at 1 pm in St Peter’s Church, Petersfield.
What are you looking most forward to when performing at the Petersfield Musical Festival this year, and what will you be playing?
I’ve been asked to play at this concert as a few years ago I won an award from Petersfield Musical Festival to help with my National Youth Orchestra fees, for which I am very grateful.
This is going to be the second time I have performed a concerto all the way through – the first was Capuzzi’s Double Bass Concerto, which I performed for my Trinity Diploma (ATCL), for which I gained a distinction.
This particular concerto by Koussevitzky has a special appeal to me because he was a double bass player. He was partially writing for himself, but he also knew the instrument’s boundaries and how to show it off and make it sing. One of the great things about this concerto is it uses all the potential of the double bass, including requiring the player to play very high up in the treble clef. At the end of the first movement, there is also some exciting double stopping, and it’s very energetic throughout. He also adds contrast by composing some very good lyrical lines, which I really like doing. It is such a fun piece to play.
On YouTube, there is a recording of Koussevitzky playing the second movement of this concerto – which is about 100 years old. It is really nice that I can hear how he uses expression in his playing. His style of playing is different from that of modern double bass. Back then, the style tended to be quite “slidey” with lots of rubato and portamento, so I’m not copying his style because it’s not really what we do nowadays, but it’s interesting hearing how he expresses himself through his own composition.
I am very excited to be playing in a recital concert with just two performers. Usually, when I perform on the double bass, it is part of a bigger programme with lots of performers, and we tend to play maybe a couple of shorter pieces. It’s going to be nice to be one of just two people who are playing.
Who and/or what have been the most important influences on your musical career or interest in music so far?
We have a piano at home because my mum is a music teacher and I started learning the piano when I was about six years old. I also come from a very musical family.
A few years later, I was sat in a rehearsal listening to Surrey County Youth Orchestra – my mum was the trumpet tutor – and she asked me what I wanted to play. I instantly said the double bass as I was attracted to its low sounds. Since starting at Bedales, I have branched out: I play the bass guitar and perform in many contemporary music events, including the legendary Rock Show.
When I first asked to learn the double bass, I was actually too small for the instrument, so I did the cello for about a year until I had grown. Even then, the first bass I had was a 10th size. At the age of ten, I started at the Royal Academy of Music in their primary department on double bass and piano. That was the point when my playing started to get considerably better.
What it’s like playing the double bass? Just what do you love about the instrument?
It feels like a very powerful instrument. Surprisingly, although it is loud, it doesn’t project as easily as instruments like the violin, especially in a big space.
I am now in the junior department of the Royal Academy. I play in the senior string orchestra and the symphony orchestra and have musicianship lessons, chamber ensembles and piano lessons. One of my favourite things that I started a few years ago is playing Baroque chamber music. I immediately fell in love with it, partly because I didn’t ask to do it! I was in a different chamber group, and one of the Baroque chamber groups needed a bass, so they pulled me out and asked me to do the Baroque group instead. In Baroque music, the bass line is always the core part of the music, and it’s built on that. I always enjoy playing Baroque bass lines.
Tell us about some of the composers that you really like.
Well, in terms of double bass pieces, the number of composers is quite limited, but one of the most performed is Bottesini, whose music makes up a lot of the core repertoire for the double bass. One of the pieces that I learnt last year and that I’ve been playing quite often is Tarantella, which is a very fun virtuosic piece for double bass. It tells the story of a dance that you do when you’ve been bitten by a tarantula to get rid of the poison. The piece very much sounds and feels like that when you’re playing it – it’s like a spider dancing around the fingerboard.
What would you like to be doing in 5 years’ time?
By this time next year I will have made my decisions about where I would like to go on to after school. The plan is to apply to all the major music colleges and some universities. If I go to university rather than music college, I will make sure that I’m doing performance modules as much as possible. After my degree I would like to have a career as a musician. Ideally to be playing in orchestras as well as in small ensembles, and I also wish to perform as a soloist. I am also keen to keep developing my interest in composition and in contemporary music, including electronic composition and programming. At school, I have composed quite a bit of electronic music, including backing tracks for school events. I have lots of musical aspirations and interests.
About Elliot
Elliot started learning the double bass when he was eight years old. By the time he was ten, he had begun in the junior department of the Royal Academy of Music. He enjoys a day of varied musical activities, including being a member of the symphony orchestra and senior strings. Elliot participates in concerts and other musical events, and last year won the double bass competition.
Carina Cosgrave has been Elliot’s double bass teacher for over three years. Carina is a professor in the senior department of the Royal College of Music and is a member of The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Elliot is also receiving additional coaching from Rodrigo Moro Martin, principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra and also a senior Royal College professor.
Elliot performed his first concerto at 14 with the European Summer Music course orchestra. In the same year, he successfully auditioned for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, where he was a member for two years. Elliot gratefully received a financial award from the Michael Hurd Fund towards the cost of the fees. Elliot takes part in a wide variety of musical activities at Bedales, where he is a music scholar and is often seen playing the bass guitar in rock shows and band nights. Elliot enjoys making music with local organisations and is a member of the Guildford Youth Symphony and recently played with the Basingstoke Symphony Orchestra. Elliot has had much success at local music festivals and music examinations, including a distinction for his ATCL.
In addition to the double bass, Elliot is an accomplished pianist taught by Mark Nixon at junior RAM. At 11, Elliot was awarded the ABRSM Sheila Mossman Memorial Prize for gaining the highest mark in the UK for his grade 7 piano exam. He then went on to earn a distinction for grade 8 and then his diploma.
Thwaites Fine Stringed Instruments sponsor Elliot and is performing on one of their beautiful double basses.
