Stuart Riley's double bass website

music

This page is an online reference for students, bass players and anyone else who is interested. There are videos, sheet music, exercises and all sort of goodies for bass audition orchestral excerpts. Some of the material is mine, much by others, most of whom are far better known than me. The aim of this page is to share ideas, avoid other people reinventing the same wheel.

 

Audition orchestral excerpts
Britten Peter Grimes - Act 1
Britten March from Frank Bridge Variations	FrankBridge
Bruckner Symphony no 7	Bruckner 7
Mozart 40 -  first movement no 1	Mozart40_1
Mozart 40 - first movement no 2	Mozart40_2
Mozart 40 - last movement no 1	Mozart40_3
Mozart 40 - last movement no 2	Mozart40_4
Strauss Ein Heldenleben - fig 1	HeldenlebenFig1
Strauss Ein Heldenleben - fig 9	HeldenlebenFig9
Verdi La Traviata - Act I intro	Traviata
Verdi Othello - Act 4 solo	OtelloSolo
Scroll down for information on my UK auditions:-
Below is a list of all the auditions I have done in the UK since arriving back in mid 2010:- Date GroupFullName GroupAcronym ProgramTitle GigNotes 6/23/2010 Royal Opera House ROH no3 Audition crashed and burnt, bass smashed en route from Oz, 4 days before audition, jetlag, excuses.. 9/14/2010 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra CBSO Casual audition on extra list 10/4/2010 Opera North ON Casual work audition on list, working 3/11/2011 Philharmonia Phil Casual audition odd one, would have been on list but I live in Bristol!! 3/21/2011 Scottish Chamber Orchestra SCO Casual audition on list, working 6/1/2011 Welsh National Opera WNO Principal Audition 3 month trial, didnt get the job 9/18/2011 Ulster Orchestra UO Principal Audition under prepared, no trial 2/13/2012 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic RLPO Ass Principal Audition trial April 2012 3/22/2012 Northern Sinfonia NS Principal Audition played OK, but no trial 4/17/2012 BBC National Orchestra of Wales BBCW Principal and no2 Audition played OK, but no trial 5/14/2012 Opera North ON No2 audition trial in mid 2012 6/25/2012 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra BSO Casual audition on the extra work list 2/11/2015 Orchestra Victoria OV Principal bass audition   ...and the excerpts set for each one:-
Date Group Audition Composer Work Excerpts 6/23/2010 ROH no3 Audition Britten Peter Grimes Act 3 6 flats, Act 1 slow E maj, fig 76 6/23/2010 ROH no3 Audition Verdi La Traviata Act 1 intro 6/23/2010 ROH no3 Audition Verdi Otello Act 4 solo, Act 1 triplets 6/23/2010 ROH no3 Audition Verdi Rigoletto no 3 duo with Vc 6/23/2010 ROH no3 Audition Wagner Lohengrin fig 40 dotted passage 10/4/2010 ON Casual work audition Beethoven Symphony no 5 2nd mov fig C, Scherzo and trio 10/4/2010 ON Casual work audition Brahms Requiem 4th mov legato tune in E flat 10/4/2010 ON Casual work audition Mozart Symphony no 39 in E flat 1st mov intro scales and theme, last mov semis 10/4/2010 ON Casual work audition Verdi Rigoletto Act 1 5 flats passage 3/11/2011 Phil Casual audition Beethoven Symphony no 9 recit 3/11/2011 Phil Casual audition Mozart Symphony no 40 in G minor 1st mov dev and string crossings, last mov semis 3/11/2011 Phil Casual audition Strauss Ein Heldenleben fig 9 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Beethoven Symphony no 5 2nd fig C, 3rd Scherzo 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Beethoven Symphony no 7 1st mov Dev 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Brahms Symphony no 1 2nd mov semis 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Brahms Symphony no 2 last mov 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Brahms Symphony no 3 3rd mov pizz accompaniment 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Britten Frank Bridge variations March 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Mozart Symphony no 39 in E flat 1st mov slow intro, theme, bar 85, last mov semis 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition Mozart Symphony no 40 in G minor 1st mov dev, last mov dev 1 2 3 4 5 6
Next is the same list but sorted by piece - you can see how often pieces have cropped up, and which bits. For example Beethoven 5 is very common, but sometimes the 2nd mov and well and the 3rd, and not all orchestras want to hear all the scherzo:- Composer Piece Date Group Audition Excerpts Bach Orchestral Suite No 1 in C 3/22/2012 NS Principal Audition Overture, Allegro, Courante Bach Violin concerto in E 6/1/2011 WNO Principal Audition 2nd mov tune Bach Violin concerto in E 2/13/2012 RLPO Ass Principal Audition 2nd mov tune Beethoven Symphony no 1 2/11/2015 OV Principal bass audition   Beethoven Symphony no 5 10/4/2010 ON Casual work audition 2nd mov fig C, Scherzo and trio Beethoven Symphony no 5 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition 2nd fig C, 3rd Scherzo Beethoven Symphony no 5 2/13/2012 RLPO Ass Principal Audition 3rd mov Beethoven Symphony no 5 4/17/2012 BBCW Principal and no2 Audition scherzo and first half of trio Beethoven Symphony no 5 5/14/2012 ON No2 audition 2nd mov fig C, Sch and trio extracts Beethoven Symphony no 5 6/25/2012 BSO Casual audition 3rd mov Beethoven Symphony no 7 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition 1st mov Dev Beethoven Symphony no 9 3/11/2011 Phil Casual audition recit Beethoven Symphony no 9 9/18/2011 UO Principal Audition recit Beethoven Symphony no 9 2/13/2012 RLPO Ass Principal Audition recit Beethoven Symphony no 9 6/25/2012 BSO Casual audition recit and tune Berg Wozzeck 6/1/2011 WNO Principal Audition solo Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem 5/14/2012 ON No2 audition slow tune in E flat Brahms Requiem 10/4/2010 ON Casual work audition 4th mov legato tune in E flat Brahms Symphony no 1 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition 2nd mov semis Brahms Symphony no 2 3/21/2011 SCO Casual audition last mov 1 2 3 4 5 6
And here is a list of the pieces I have been asked to play, and the number of times they have been set. There are lots of solos close to the top of the list, which makes sense considering the number of front desk jobs coming up.		The table below show the number piece selected per composer. Verdi is very common for opera auditions!
No Composer Piece 6 Beethoven Symphony no 5 5 Mozart Symphony no 39 in E flat 5 Mozart Symphony no 40 in G minor 4 Beethoven Symphony no 9 4 Britten Peter Grimes 4 Britten Young persons guide to the orchestra 4 Haydn Symphony no 31 'Horn Signal' 4 Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite 4 Verdi Otello 4 Verdi Rigoletto 3 Brahms Symphony no 2 3 Britten Frank Bridge variations 3 Ginastera Variaciones concertantes 3 Mahler Symphony no 1 3 Prokofiev Lt Kije 3 Strauss Ein Heldenleben 3 Verdi La Traviata 2 Bach Violin concerto in E 2 Dvorak Quintet in G (bass) 2 Saint-Seans Carnival of the Animals 2 Verdi Falstaff 1 Bach Orchestral Suite No 1 in C 1 Beethoven Symphony no 1 1 Beethoven Symphony no 7 1 Berg Wozzeck 1 Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem 1 Brahms Requiem 1 Brahms Symphony no 1 1 Brahms Symphony no 3 1 Brahms Symphony no 4 1 Britten Albert Herring 1 Britten War Requiem 1 Bruckner Symphony no 7 1 Francaix Six preludes 1 Handel Messiah 1 Haydn Symphony no 6 'Le Matin' 1 Holst Perfect Fool 1 Mahler Symphony no 2 1 Mozart Magic Flute overture 1 Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Suite 1 Schumann Symphony no 1 1 Shostakovitch Symphony no 11 1 Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos 1 Strauss Der Rosenkavalier 1 Strauss Don Juan 1 Tchaikovsky Serenade for strings 1 Verdi Aida 1 Verdi Ballet music 1 Wagner Lohengrin		Total Composer 15 Verdi 13 Britten 12 Beethoven 11 Mozart 8 Brahms 6 Strauss 5 Haydn 4 Mahler 4 Prokofiev 4 Stravinsky 3 Bach 3 Ginastera 2 Dvorak 2 Saint-Seans 1 Berg 1 Bruckner 1 Francaix 1 Handel 1 Holst 1 Schumann 1 Shostakovitch 1 Tchaikovsky 1 Wagner