“My colleagues from the Orchestra and I fell in love with this double bass.
The little presentation spot produced by the Orchester de Paris is having an effect.
We see Ulysse Vigreux, one of the double bassists of the company, alternating speech in front of the camera and handling of the instrument.
And what an instrument!
A 1926 double bass, worth 45,000 € and which the institution would like to acquire.
To this end and through its musician, the orchestra appeals to donors.
Which will, in return, enjoy advantageous rewards.
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Exceptional instrument
"You may not know it
, launches the voice over of Ulysse Vigreux,
but it is very difficult to find an instrument of this quality
.
We called several luthiers in France, England, Holland before finding this marvel in a workshop near Oxford. She is English and almost a hundred years old. "
The coveted double bass is classic in aesthetics, its circles are serious, powerful and warm.
This marvel was made in London's Hawkes & Son workshops, initially versed in wind instruments and for military orchestras.
In 1925, the house, founded in 1865 by William Henry Hawkes, moved to north London, in Edgware, and diversified its activity, notably by manufacturing stringed instruments, the materials of which were provided by the Mirecourt workshops alone and Markneukirchen.
Eventually, Hawkes & Son merged in 1930 with the Boosey & Company and is now known as Boosey & Hawkes.
Read also: Classical music: in search of the lost instrument
Acquisition policy
For several years now, the Philharmonie de Paris has been planning to acquire a maximum of so-called “exceptional” instruments in order to provide members of its orchestra with individual tools and thus avoid their rotation. Especially since the Grande Salle Pierre Boulez, inaugurated in 2016 with the rest of the building, is not yet fully equipped with instruments up to the quality of its acoustics.
Anne-Sophie Brandalise, director of the Orchester de Paris, thus indicates on the company's website that
“since 2019, the Orchestra has already acquired a harp, four tubens, a set of four timpani, and will be procured from there. fall a set of church bells. It is in this same logic that in 2019 the Cercle de l'Orchestre de Paris enabled the acquisition of the Nadotti double bass manufactured in 1770. "
This call for donations should, moreover, be followed by several others, the Orchestra still seeking support to acquire six other double basses, in addition to Hawkes & Son.