Double bass [bass, contrabass, stand-up bass, string bass, upright bass] (Fr. contrebasse; Ger. Kontrabass; It. contrabasso, contrabbasso; Sp. contrabajo).The largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in use. It has four or (less often) five strings tuned in 4ths and sounds an octave lower than the cello. In western art music it is best known for its contribution to the orchestra, where it supplies not only the power and weight but the basic rhythmic foundation, and has also been used as a continuo instrument. More rarely the bass is heard as a soloist, in which field its surprisingly large repertory includes over 200 concertos. The instrument, normally played pizzicato, is an essential member of jazz and dance bands; in many countries it is used in military and concert bands.1. Structure and tuning.Double basses vary in shape and size more than almost any other instrument. There are two basic designs: one is shaped like a viol, the other like a violin.3. History.Research into the evolution of the double bass reveals a tangled web of several hundred years of changes in design and fashion in the dimensions of the instrument and consequently in its stringing and tuning.4. Repertory and performers.Telemanns unusual Trillensymphonie in D (1730) for two double basses, chalumeau, flute and harp continuo shows how differently he treated high and low tuned violoni. The writing, which owes more to peasant dancing than it does to court elegance, must be one of the earliest examples of a work using a double bass instrument as a soloist. Little other solo music is known from the 18th century (Stamitzs concerto, for example, is a transcription of a viola work) until the solo parts in Haydns symphonies (e.g. nos.68) of the early 1760s; then, in the four years from 1765, no fewer than 28 concertos appeared (by Vanhal, Zimmermann, Haydn, Franz Hoffmeister, Johannes Sperger and Dittersdorf). Dragonettis success was unique in that for over 50 years no musical gathering was considered complete without him. Not only did his fine performances win him recognition throughout Europe, but his kind, amiable personality endeared him to the British public. He counted among his friends Haydn, Beethoven, Hummel, Spohr, Liszt and many other composers.The later Italian virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini had a different approach to the bass. While some critics praised Dragonettis powerful tone and his ability to play in tune, others scorned his loud and rasping style. For Bottesini there was little but praise; his delicate tone and agile technique stunned audiences and his ability to dart from one end of the instrument to the other was remarkable (H.R. Haweis).The early 20th century saw the rise of Sergey Koussevitzky, another virtuoso who conducted. The recordings he made in 1929 of his Valse miniature, Chanson triste and Lskas Wiegenlied show the perfect command he had of his instrument. Koussevitzky wrote comparatively little for the bass, his recital programmes consisting largely of transcriptions (notably the Cello Sonata by Strauss, Bruchs Kol Nidrei, Mozarts Bassoon Concerto and many Baroque works).The American Bertram Turetzky has commissioned over 200 works and has developed his own particular style of playing, centred on pizzicato and non-traditional bow techniques. In England Barry Guy has explored new avenues of sound by coupling the bass to electronic apparatus controlled during performance at the players discretion.It is hard to be certain when the double bass obtained a regular place in the orchestra. Many 17th-century orchestras did not use 16' tone; there was no double bass in the Paris Opra orchestra, for example, until the early years of the 18th century. But court orchestras of the mid-18th century included double basses; usually they were more numerous than the cellos. A modern symphony orchestra generally has at least eight (for a fuller discussion see Orchestra).Any principal orchestral player must attain a standard equal to that of the virtuoso soloist; advanced technique is required for most of the works of, for example, Schoenberg, Strauss and Stravinsky. Some of the more exposed passages occur in Brittens Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra and A Midsummer Nights Dream, Ginasteras Variaciones concertantes, Mahlers First Symphony, Musorgskys Pictures from an Exhibition (orch. Ravel, 1922), Prokofievs suite Lieutenant Kij, Rossinis six early string sonatas, Saint-Sanss Le carnaval des animaux and Stravinskys suite Pulcinella. Chamber music with double bass includes several works by Mozart of a divertimento character (attesting the use of the instrument in such contexts in 18th-century Austria), Beethovens Septet (op.20), Schuberts Trout Quintet and Octet, Spohrs Octet and Nonet, and many works by Hummel, Onslow and others. Dvok used it in a string quintet (op.77). 20th-century composers have turned their attention to the instrument in their search for less familiar tone colours, e.g. Prokofievs Quintet and works by Henze, many of which use artificial harmonics.