I’ve been a huge fan of Teppo Hauta-aho’s music for decades. I remember the first time I discovered his famous Kadenza while in college. It was like entering a new world of sound and texture.
Ever since then. I’ve looked forward to hearing new works from Teppo. He’s truly one of the most prolific composers for the double bass, and he has inspired several generations of performers and composers to stretch beyond the traditional role of the double bass and explore new territory.
About Typically Teppo
This new album brings together performers from four continents and composers from six to celebrate the eclectic and playful music of Teppo Hauta-aho.
In 2016, David Heyes organized Teppo-Fest in celebration of the Finnish bassist and composer’s 75th birthday. This recording project was a natural evolution of this event and the impressive 56 pieces that were composed and premiered at this event.
About Teppo Hauta-aho
(From Typically Teppo program notes – written by David Heyes)
Teppo Hauta-aho was born in 1941 and studied double bass with Oreo Hyle and Oiva Nummelin in Finland, and Francisek Posta in Prague. He played with the Helsinki Philharmonic between 1965 and 1972, and the Finnish Opera Orchestra from 1975 to 2000. He is an active recitalist, both classical and jazz, has given more than 300 recitals with his duo partner, Carita Holmstrom, and is at the cutting edge of modern improvisation – performing with leading improvisers throughout the world.
Finnish bassist Harry Wessman writes: “As a composer, Teppo Hauta-aho has always been own teacher, basing his technical knowledge on his wide practical musicianship as an orchestral player, chamber and jazz musician. It would not be an exaggeration to claim that he was the jazz bassist most in demand in Finland in the 1970s, and a few of his works are pure jazz compositions. But the compositional techniques and musical means used in the majority of his works originate in an unusual openness for any devices. Along with modern techniques, his source of inspiration includes all the previous stylistic periods in European music, impulses from Oriental music and, of course, jazz. His own instrument, the double bass, has profited especially from his rich inventiveness in finding new means to conjure forth unusual sounds from the instrument, and in applying them in an artistically meaningful and striking way.”
Hauta-aho’s music has been performed extensively in Finland and abroad, notable in America, Britain, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Soviet Union, Australia, and Switzerland. His most famous work Kadenza (1978) has achieved cult-like status, is recognized universally as a 20th-century classic, and is the most performed contemporary work for double bass.
Taking a look at the entire album
Here’s a look at the diverse offerings included on this album. Every piece is gorgeously recorded, with excellent fidelity that really captures the beautiful instruments of the performers.
David Heyes has included in-depth program notes for all the pieces on the album. I’ll do a brief paraphrase of David’s descriptions with some thoughts of my own, and be sure to check out David’s program notes included with the album for more complete details.
1. Hauta-aho – Pizz. Poem Basso III
Dan Styffe, double bass
This piece explores extended pizzicato techniques which have grown in popularity in recent decades. The result is a resonant, almost guitar-like piece with shifting moods and textures.
2-3. Hauta-aho – Two Dances for double bass quartet
David Heyes, Dan Styffe, Kenneth Ryland, Karol Ciesluk, double basses
This prizewinning entry in the 1999 British and International Bass Forum consists of two dances.
Dance No. 1 is a ¾ waltz, though in typical fashion for Teppo, it is unlike pretty much any other waltz, with all sorts of unexpected textures and shifts in character.
Dance No. 2 is much more laid-back, with a really cool reggae-like groove and some further explorations of the thematic material from Dance No. 1.
order sheet music for these works here
4-8. Heyes – Finnish Sketches
David Heyes, double bass
David Heyes composed this five movement work for Teppo-Fest 2016. It consists of five short movements, with each movement revolving around something from the 19th century work of epic Finnish poetry Kalevala.
The first movement, Lintukoto (Home of the Birds), is dedicated to Teppo.
The second movement, Luonnotar (Nature-Spirit), is dedicated to Alex Heather.
The third movement, Tapio (God of the Forest), is dedicated to Peter McLoughlin.
The fourth movement, Vainamoinen (God-Hero), is dedicated to Max van der Linden.
The fifth movement, Tuonela (The Land of the Dead), is dedicated to Dritan Gani.
order sheet music for this work here
9. Heyes – Homage a Teppo Hauta-aho
Sarah Poole, soprano – David Heyes, double bass
Sarah’s wordless vocal in this piece weaves throughout evocative pizzicato passages in this tributes to David’s 20-year friendship with Teppo.
David Heyes was kind enough to dedicate his piece Ilmarinen to me. It’s a lovely work and was written in late 2016. You can purchase the sheet music for it here, and you can also watch my performance of it from the 2017 San Francisco Winter Bass Bash.
10. Garcia – Northern Lights
David Heyes, Kenneth Ryland, Dan Styffe, Karol Ciesluk, double basses
This evocative work by Spanish composer Simon Garcia begins with mysterious pizzicato interplay, suggesting the beauty and magic of the Northern Lights. The pizzicato passages continue along with quasi-ponticello arco playing, resulting in a rich and evolving sonic texture.
order sheet music for this work here
11. Hauta-aho – Dan and Gasparo
12. Hauta-aho – Dan’s Gasparo Ballade
Dan Styffe, double bass
This work, along with Dan’s Gasparo Ballade, explore the unique and gorgeous sound of the Gasparo da Salo bass on which Dan Styffe performs.
Dan and Gasparo explores the lower register of the instrument.
Dan’s Gasparo Ballade is more virtuosic in nature, with chordal figurations and a very cool E string pattern.
13-17. Bernard Salles – Five for Teppo
Dan Styffe, double bass
A well-known composer in the double bass community, Bernard Salles wrote this five-movement work for Teppo-Fest 2016.
The first movement, Teppo, is a mere 19 measures long and is based around the letters E, A, and F.
The second movement, Hauta, is chromatic and rhythmic.
The third movement, Aho, is a lyrical 15 bars, with many textures in a short span of time.
The fourth movement, 75th Birthday, is quite evocative of the compositions of Teppo, with many contrasting moods and textures.
The fifth movement, Fest!, closes out the work in a rapid and fun finale filled with virtuosic playing.
order sheet music for this work here
18. Garcia – A Second Life (Three for Teppo)
This elegant and plaintive work for solo bass is a great example of why Simon Garcia’s music has proven so popular in the bass world. Clocking in at just over a minute, the work still manages to evolve from the lower register fo the bass into some lovely thumb position double stops before descending back into the lower register.
19-20. Hauta-aho – Trio Poem Basso II
Dan Styffe, David Heyes, Kenneth Ryland, double basses
Subtitled ‘Two for Three,’ this work is divided into two movements.
The first movement, Largo Sostenuto, is slow, with arco and pizzicato explorations throughout the entire range of the bass, and some truly gorgeous harmonies throughout the three voices.
The second movement, Allegro moderato, is classic Teppo: jazz, classical, and wry wit throughout. There’s a great jazz groove in bass three, and some incredibly cool harmonies up and down there fingerboard in the other bass parts.
21. Bos – A Little Song for Teppo
Sarah Poole, soprano – David Heyes, double bass
Karen Bos’ lovely and atmospheric tribute to Teppo combines an elegant wordless melody in the soprano part with resonant bass body drumming and pizzicato figures.
order sheet music for this work here
22. Funk – Aria
David Heyes, double bass
Eric Funk’s work for unaccompanied double bass is based on a poem by Finnish poet Jouni Inkala and weaves all sorts of character changes into and engaging and lyrical work.
order sheet music for this work here
23. Hauta-aho – Elegy-Fantasy in Memory of David Walter
Dan Styffe, David Heyes, Kenneth Ryland, Karol Ciesluk, double basses
David Walter’s influence on the double bass world has been tremendous, and this work commemorates the long friendship between David and Teppo. Composed in one movement with several interlocking sections, this lyrical and multifaceted work is dedicated to David Heyes, who has championed Teppo’s work for the past two decades.
order sheet music for this work here
Final Thoughts
Projects like Typically Teppo and the wonderful recent 4 CD set A Tribute to Teppo demonstrate just how beloved Teppo Hauta-aho is to the double bass community. I’m a huge fan of his compositions, and this latest work is a musical gem and an excellent tribute to one of our greatest composers for the double bass.
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