Bottesini's Concerto No. 2 in B Minor for double bass has been edited by Jeff Bradetich, one of the leading bass performers and teachers in the US today, proclaimed by the New York Times as "the master of his instrument." Mr. Bradetich has been an active lecturer, clinician, and arranger, having transcribed over 100 solo works for the double bass.

The Bottesini Concerto #2 in B minor (originally titled by Bottesini as the Concertino in Si minore for double bass and strings) has become the most widely studied and performed work in the bass repertoire.

Download and print the score today to gain access to this expertly edited release of Bottesini's Concerto No. 2 in B Minor for double bass by Jeff Bradetich!

The purpose of every edition is to help translate the meaning and intent of the composer to the performer. This edition often brings more than one phrasing, fingering and bowing idea to the performer’s attention.

You will find that in the most challenging fingering passages this edition offers two fingering choices based primarily on the size of the left hand of the performer. One fingering does not work for everyone.

Musically, the string choices reflect the bel canto, operatic style of the music with an emphasis on shifting to produce the lyrical quality of singing inherent in the composer’s writing. The more rapid technical passages take advantage of across-the-string fingerings that enhance speed and reduce shifting.

The question of whether to play the highest notes as harmonics or closed is a question performers must decide for themselves. Bottesini most likely played them as harmonics but if you consider the more dramatic passages from the standpoint of an opera singer you will see how closing the notes produces a much different musical expression.

--Jeff Bradetich