BERTRAM TURETZKY
Since the end of World War II, the contrabass has
emerged from its traditional orchestral role to assume the
position of an important solo instrument. This marked rise in
interest in the contrabass can be traced to it's importance in
Jazz and the development of new performance techniques. Bertram
Turetzky has been a key figure in the renaissance of the
contrabass and since 1955 more than 300 new worked have been
written for, performed by and recorded by him, making him the
most frequently recorded contrabass soloist in America. In fact,
Bertram Turetzky is one of the few performers in all of music
history to have single-handedly created a large and impressive
repertory of music for his instrument.
Turetzky's concert career includes a multitude of performances at
concerts and festivals in music centers of the world; New York,
London, Paris, Warsaw, Los Angeles, Stockholm and Berlin. His
body of work includes music of all genres; solo to symphonic with
everything else in between written by composers from the U.S.A.,
France, Germany, Poland, Australia, Mexico and Spain. He also
enjoys programs of music of the Baroque and Romantic periods as
well as works by composers out of the Jazz tradition such as
Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington.
In addition, he is the author of THE CONTEMPORARY CONTRABASS
(1974), a monograph outlining the new techniques of the
instruments. On the basis of the now classic book, Turetzky was
named co-editor of the prestigious series THE NEW
INSTRUMENTATION, published by the University of California Press.
Bertram Turetzky is professor of music at the University of
California, San Diego, where his spends a major part of each year
in residence. Turetzky has recorded works for the following
labels: Advance, Ars Nova, Desto, Finnadar, Folkways, Medea,
Nonesuch, Takoma, CRI, Serenus and Nine Winds.
"Turetzky is a stunning executant, like a great basso
cantante, his double bass speaks purely and with the easy
resonance at the softest dynamic levels. Even his harmonics never
sound gritty. And the resourcefulness with which he strives for
unlikely colors and textures seems virtually unlimited." -
New York Times
"Turetzky is a virtuoso of a caliber unsurpassed by any
other practitioner of his instrument today." - Chicago Daily
News