Gary Karr and Bassinova Quartet play Phantasy Quintet arrangement for five basses

The Bassinova Quartet performs an arrangement of the Phantasy Quintet by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams for five double basses, with special guest Gary Karr. As an intercontinental ensemble, each part was recorded remotely. The arranger and one of the Quartet’s bassists Daniel Nix performs both violin parts, supplementing for a last-minute dropout; Gary Karr plays the first viola part; Mariechen Meyer is in second viola; and the cello part is played by Gustavo Mazon Finess.

The Phantasy Quintet, originally for two violins, two violas and one cello, was composed by Vaughan Williams in 1912. It was commissioned by the businessman and chamber-music enthusiast Walter Wilson Cobbett and was premiered by the London String Quartet on 23 March 1914, led by Albert Sammons with James Lockyer performing as the additional violist.

The work is based upon the popular Elizabethan phantasy form, often spelt as ‘fantasy’, in which several unrelated but varied sections join together to form a longer work

’It was an exciting musical experience for me, and I feel honoured to have been a part of this important endeavour,’ Karr told The Strad. 

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Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.