Of Bow and Touch

A passionate, exciting, and lyrical duet.

(Double Bass and Piano).
Total duration ca. 10 minutes (2000)
Published by Activist Music (ASCAP).
Adaptation of "Of Breath and Touch,"
commissioned in 1999 by Carolyn Beck.
One movement work. 16 pages, 8.5" x 11".

Premiered in October 2001 in Long Beach, CA.
by Tom Peters, bass and Mark Uranker, piano.

Winner of an award in 2001 from the International Society of Bassists, Of Bow and Touch explores the full range of an expressive member of the string family that doesn't get quite as many chances to shine in a solo capacity as its smaller relatives. With influences as far ranging as Middle Eastern music and jazz ballads, this piece-- composed originally for bassoon-- uses hypnotic rhythm and long lyrical melody to take listeners on a journey through many unexpected realms.

"Of Bow and Touch is a very effective and accessible work, with artful melodies and inventive use of harmonies and textures."

— Hans Sturm, Bass World Magazine, 2001

"...a very interesting and effective work."

— Gordon Rumson, Music & Vision Magazine, May 2001

Winner of a 2001 award from
The International Society of Bassists.

Review of the double bass version of this piece, "Of Bow and Touch," by Hans Sturm in the 2001 edition of Bass World:

Of Bow and Touch is a dramatic work with beautiful bass melodies and an intriguing use of harmony and texture.

The piece begins with a striking introduction: pedaled E flats in the piano echo over four octaves in the lower register. The bass enters majestically with a double dotted theme over long held low chords. After a brief fermata, the A theme appears, featuring broken sixteenth notes arpeggios in the piano, beginning with strong accents that slowly die away. While the piano texture remains consistent throughout the A section, the bass melody begins as an arc of long held notes, punctuated by sixteenth note flourishes and dotted syncopations.

After an extended passage of fast rhythms spiccato, the melody reappears before the rubato B theme is established. Rich quiet harmonies support a lyric bel canto, yet complex rhythms in the melody. Slight ritardandos alternate with a tempo bars in 6/4 throughout the B section.

A virtuosic cadenza marked "very freely, improvisation is encouraged" further embellishes the melody with double stops, sixteenth note triplet arpeggios, and intricate runs. The B theme returns, followed by a highly syncopated contrapuntal passage that accelerates into the final statement of the A section.

Of Bow and Touch is a very effective and accessible work, with artful melodies and inventive use of harmonies and textures.