John Luther Adams – darkness and scattered light
Robert Black double bass
Cold Blue Music CB0067 (coldbluemusic.com)
Renowned award-winning American composer John Luther Adams’ album Darkness and Scattered Light is an unusual one, consisting of three major works for double bass. Two scored for solo double bass and one for bass quintet, each attractive piece is a substantial contribution to the bass repertoire.
Superbly performed by the late bassist Robert Black (1956–2023) these virtuoso works call not only on the majesty of the lowest of the string section, but also on its ability in the right hands to evoke near-orchestral multi-part textures – as in the serene solo Three High Places (2007). Fascinatingly, all the sounds in this work consist of bowed natural harmonics or open strings, the musician’s fingers never touching the fingerboard.
Darkness and Scattered Light (2023), Adams’ 16’32” single-movement score for five double basses (all played by Black), wades deeply into orchestral textures, employing both the harmonic and subharmonic overtone series. Marked by merging long tones transfigured onto a tonally ambiguous harmonic terrain, Adams’ aesthetically sophisticated, historically informed work is masterful.
The other solo is Three Nocturnes (2022), evoking the dark side of the harmonic series and of nature herself. Dedicated to Black, he gave the premiere outdoors, amid red rock canyons.
Composer Michael Gordon wrote that Black “has single-handedly reinvented the technique and repertoire of the double bass, bringing it bursting into the 21st century.” Black’s no-nonsense, committed, masterful playing of Adams’ music is his beautiful, lasting legacy.
