Mistagging "basse" as double bass
Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 8:56 am
Hi, in 12 Récréations, Op.44 (Battanchon, Félix), the piece is for "Violoncelle avec accompagnement de basse", and the work page is tagged for cello and double bass, but "basse" usually means (bizarrely, I know!) another cello in these French early 19th century publications, like with the string quintets of Onslow and others (which are sometimes indicated "pour deux violins, alto, violoncelle et contrebasse ou basse"...) And in this publication it's obvious that the "basse" part is not transposed at the octave and instead fits the written range of the cello.
Normally I would sneakily change the tag myself but here there are many double stops that are not idiomatic on cello, mainly of notes that are usually played on the same string, which makes me wonder if it shouldn't be tagged as continuo instead. The piece is indeed sub-titled "études de style", maybe baroque style was intended. Given the ambiguity, I offer the issue up here for someone to make a decision. It is better to have erroneous double bass tags sanitized out, as that makes the actual double bass-related tags more useful
Normally I would sneakily change the tag myself but here there are many double stops that are not idiomatic on cello, mainly of notes that are usually played on the same string, which makes me wonder if it shouldn't be tagged as continuo instead. The piece is indeed sub-titled "études de style", maybe baroque style was intended. Given the ambiguity, I offer the issue up here for someone to make a decision. It is better to have erroneous double bass tags sanitized out, as that makes the actual double bass-related tags more useful