“Young as I was, I soon realised the fact that, however profoundly versed a composer may may be in the rules of musical science, he cannot dispense with the one thing needed – creative genius. Although this is natures gift and is only bestowed upon a few, it needs unwearied industry and cultivation”
Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf
FULL BIOGRAPHY
“A noble pursuit [Titanic Double Bass] that showcases the range of the mighty double bass well” BBC Music April 2019
In 1985 David was appointed Principal Double Bass with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra by Rudolf Barshai, at the age of 25. David has performed under four principal conductors before the current highly acclaimed incumbent Kirill Karabits. With the BSO David has toured Europe, America and as far as Hong Kong performing in the world’s finest concert halls such as Carnegie Hall – New York, and the Musikverein – Vienna as well as covering the length and breadth of the UK, and regularly at the BBC Proms.
“he plays with real musicianship of the sort that made the familiar Rachmaninoff Vocalise sound more seductive than most singers can” Charles Acton The Irish Times
As one of the most frequently recorded symphony orchestras in the UK, David has appeared on over 130 BSO recordings on labels such as Decca, Warner Classics, Onyx, Naxos, Marco Polo, Virgin, EMI, Hyperion, Sony Classical, Columbia, Chandos, BIS, ASV, and Dutton, including a number of which have won the coveted ‘Grammy’ and ‘Gramophone’ awards. “The Silver Violin” album, with acclaimed violinist Nicola Benedetti, was the best-selling classical album of 2012. In 2017 the BSO completed it’s acclaimed recording cycle of Prokofieff symphonies with Kirill Karabits.
David has appeared as soloist with the BSO to high acclaim, performing Bottesini’s Concerto No.2 in the orchestra’s main season series and Bottesini’s Duo Concertant with Jonathan Carney.
“Proved beyond doubt that the stringed giant of the orchestra is a very agile instrument in the hands of a star performer” Bournemouth Evening Echo
David has played as guest Principal Double Bass with many other British and Irish orchestras including the London Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, the BBC Philharmonic, the BBCNOW, the Royal Philharmonic and RTE NSOI.
2017 saw the release of David’s debut recital CD “Titanic DOUBLE BASS” to favourable review. Including some of the solo recital repertoire David has performed over the past decades such as Schubert’s great ‘Arpeggione’ sonata, the title track features a melody his Great Uncle played on the deck of the Titanic as it departed Ireland. The disc also contains a premiere recording of a piece commissioned by David from John Kinsella, the renowned Irish composer called “15th April 1912”. The disc has been played on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and a video filmed to accompany the title track was released by ClassicFM and has had over 43000 views to date.
“this is a fascinating disc, well worth hearing for Daly’s outstanding lyricism and command of his instrument.”
THE ART MUSIC LOUNGE—© 2018 Lynn René Bayley
David started to play the bass at the age of twelve studying at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin with Mr Helmut Engemann. A member of the Irish Youth Orchestra for many years, in 1978 he won a place with the European Community Youth orchestra under Claudio Abbado. The following year he joined the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and appeared as soloist with the RTE Concert Orchestra. Further studies followed with Prof.Thomas Martin (Guildhall School of Music) and in 1982 he moved to London and joining the BBC Concert Orchestra as well as freelancing with various orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra. In 1988 David took a year out to attend Indiana University in Bloomington to study with Prof Bruce Bransby (Principal Double Bass of the L.A.Philharmonic) At this time he also took lessons with Edwin Barker (Principal Bass, Boston Symphony) and played in masterclass to the extraordinary cellist János Starker.
“The [Titanic DOUBLE BASS] CD must go down as a landmark in Double bass recordings for beauty of playing and beauty of recorded sound” John Kinsella, Composer
David is a visiting professor at the London College of Music and teaches at Marlborough College and at Winchester College. He is bass tutor at the annual “Crescendohungary” summer music school in Tokaji eastern Hungary.
David has been an active participant of the BSO’s education programme directing many acclaimed educational projects and also gives occasional pre-concert talks. A keen chamber musician, he has participated in the BSO’s chamber series at Wimborne St. Giles house.
SHORTER BIOGRAPHY
“A noble pursuit [Titanic Double Bass] that showcases the range of the mighty double bass well” BBC Music April 2019
In 1985 David was appointed Principal Double Bass with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra by Rudolf Barshai, at the age of 25. With the orchestra David has toured the UK, Europe, America and as far as Hong Kong performing in the world’s finest concert halls such as Carnegie Hall – New York, and the Musikverein – Vienna and at the BBC Proms. David has appeared on over 100 of BSO recordings, and featured a number of times as soloist with the BSO to high acclaim.
“he plays with real musicianship of the sort that made the familiar Rachmaninoff Vocalise sound more seductive than most singers can” Charles Acton The Irish Times
David has also played as guest Principal Double Bass with various other British and Irish orchestras including the London Philharmonic, the BBC symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and RTE NSOI. David is a visiting professor at the London College of Music and teaches at Marlborough College and Winchester College. He is bass tutor at the annual “Crescendo” summer music school in Tokaji eastern Hungary. 2017 saw the release of his debut recital CD “Titanic DOUBLE BASS”.
David Daly started to play the Double Bass at the age of twelve studying at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. A member of the Irish Youth Orchestra for many years, in 1978 he won a place with the European Community Youth orchestra under Claudio Abbado. The following year he joined the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Further studies followed with Prof.Thomas Martin (Guildhall School of Music), Prof Bruce Bransby Indiana University and with Edwin Barker (Principal Bass, Boston Symphony) and played in masterclass to the extraordinary cellist János Starker.
“this is a fascinating disc, well worth hearing for Daly’s outstanding lyricism and command of his instrument.”
THE ART MUSIC LOUNGE—© 2018 Lynn René Bayley
SHORTEST BIOGRAPHY
“A noble pursuit [Titanic Double Bass] that showcases the range of the mighty double bass well” BBC Music April 2019
In 1985 David was appointed Principal Double Bass with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra by Rudolf Barshai, at the age of 25. With the orchestra David has toured the UK, Europe, America and as far as Hong Kong performing in the world’s finest concert halls such as Carnegie Hall – New York, and the Musikverein – Vienna and at the BBC Proms. David has appeared on over 100 of BSO recordings, and featured a number of times as soloist with the BSO to high acclaim. David has also played as guest Principal Double Bass with various other British and Irish orchestras including the London Philharmonic, the BBC symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and RTE NSOI. He is a visiting professor at the London College of Music and teaches at Winchester College and Marlborough College. He is bass tutor at the annual “Crescendo” summer music school in Tokaji eastern Hungary. 2017 saw the release of his debut recital CD “Titanic DOUBLE BASS”.
“he plays with real musicianship of the sort that made the familiar Rachmaninoff Vocalise sound more seductive than most singers can” Charles Acton The Irish Times
David plays a double bass made for him by Martyn Bailey in 2008 on ‘Titanic DOUBLE BASS’ www.mjbl.co.uk
In my 40 years plus of professional orchestral playing I have played a huge swathe of the core orchestral repertoire, making around 200 CD’s in the process. However during ‘lockdown’ I started digging deep into music that I have never touched and also that audiences never get to hear. I discovered a whole world of vibrancy and beauty generally untouched on the concert platform.
It was so exciting to meet with the music and composers that the likes of Mozart and Haydn had been thrilled by. Though not all of the same quality of composition of those geniuses for sure, much is yet still wonderful. In our day we seem to have narrowed our focus in so many areas of music deeming the core repertoire worthy and ignoring the rest. One marvellous benefit of the digital recording revolution which began back in the 1980’s was that so much of this forgotten repertoire was recorded by niche companies and is now available to us to enjoy on digital platforms. But it does take some digging to unearth the best and this is what I’ve enjoyed doing during since the 17th March 2020 when all performance came to a sudden halt.
Joining the court orchestra of the Prince Joseph Friedrich who lived in a castle in Vienna at the age of just 11, Dittersdorf went on to have a career playing with the greatest composers of the era and travelling around the Classical world’s great music centres such as Prague, Paris and Venice. The great repertoire from this era has come down to us as works of other-worldly perfection, but in this autobiography we get to see the blood sweat and tears that went in to the genesis of these great compositions, and the sometimes grim reality of the insecurity of the life of musicians, no matter how proficient.
Starting at the very beginning of the Classical era these series of radio programmes introduce us to the world of wonderful music into which Mozart, Haydn and their friend here Dittersdorf were born into. It goes without saying that the great Classical works did not arise in a vacuum but were the fruit and product of a world of music largely forgotten to us now. Dittersdorf’s autobiography brings us back to that world in all its vivid colour.
Dittersdorf Episode 2 Episode 2 we meet the 11yr old Mozart who we nearly lost to a pandemic. Travel to Italy with Gluck and learn of the worlds first music ‘conservatoire’. Dittersdorf hates his job.
Dittersdorf Episode 1 starts our journey in Vienna 1750. Joseph Haydn has not written a note yet, Mozart wouldn’t be born for another six years. Vienna’s churches and courts are bursting with music and Dittersdorf gets a position as ‘Kammerknabe’ (Chamber boy) at the court of Prince Joseph Friedrich in the very centre of all this activity at the age of just 11.
https://www.daviddalymusic.net/?fbclid=IwAR22oaGXFREboops5X3WUbBf-9G6Zo9sOeYBdN5XdxaCC3qrgr-hwpNT_l0
Dittersdorf Symphony No_ 4 in F Major, Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Dittersdorf 09 Oboe Concerto in D Minor, Dittersdorf Symphony in D Major, Franz Xavier Richter Quartetto oeuvre 5 in C Major and more.
-1 starts our journey in Vienna in 1750. Joseph Haydn has not written a note yet, Mozart wouldn’t be born for another six years. Vienna’s churches and courts are bursting with music and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf gets a position as ‘Kammerknabe’ or ‘Chamber boy’ at the court of Prince Joseph Friedrich in the very centre of all this activity at the age of just 11.
Mozart Symphony No_ 6 in F Major, Dittersdorf Symphony in D Minor, Jommelli: Attilio Regolo, Vivaldi Lute Concerto In A Minor, Anna Bon Flauto Sonata N.2 in Fa Maggiore Op.1 I. Largo (Accademia Accademia Farnese: Fagotto Andrea Corsi and more.
– 2; “So the Mozart family fled Vienna with their two children hoping to escape the terrible disease (smallpox). Unfortunately they were just too late as the 11 year old Wolfgang had already been infected. It hit him hard, blinding him for nine days but happily he went on to make a full recovery and eventually resumed musical activity. Hear the whole story and music…
3- Mozart Symphony No. 14 in A Major, Johann Christian Bach Symphony in G Minor, Antonio Lolli Violin Concerto No. 8 in D Major: III. Allegro Luca Fanfoni, Haydn Trumpet Concerto In E Flat I Allegro Tine Thing Helseth, Michael Haydn Symphony No. 40 in F Major and more.
4 – Dittersdorf Symphony No. 1 in C Major, DVORAK Humoresque, Vaclav Pichl Concertino con pastorella for 2 Oboes, Mozart Marriage of Figaro Overture Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Mozart Marriage of Figaro: Aria: “Non piu andrai” Scottish Chamber Orchestra and more.
5- Gluck Don Juan – Ballet Pantomimes 30. Larghetto “Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Gluck Don Juan – Ballet Pantomimes 31. Allegro non troppo “Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Gluck Don Juan – Ballet Pantomimes 1. Andante grazioso “Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Gluck Don Juan – Ballet Pantomimes 2. Andante “Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Gluck Don Juan – Ballet Pantomimes 3. Allegro maestoso “Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and more.
6- Johann Adolf Hasse Attilio Regolo, Dittersdorf La liberatrice del popolo giudaico nella Persia, Johann Baptist Vanhal 3 Neue Caprice-Sonaten, Johann Baptist Vanhal Flute Quartet in B-Flat Major, Dittersdorf Oboe Concerto in C Major and more.
Classical Music worlds Ep.7. Vienna 1778. Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf’s life is threatened by war and he is invited by the enemy to perform for them. The Viennese ‘Musician’s society for Widows and Orphans’ takes the name of Haydn having tried and failed to expel him. Dittersdorf declares Mozart is “unquestionably one of the greatest geniuses – I have never yet met any composer who had such an amazing wealth of ideas” With the music of all three composers.
Episode 8. Vienna 1786. The eternal question is addressed Mozart or Haydn. Emperor Franz Joseph II and Dittersdorf discuss. Also might Muzio Clementi be even better than Mozart? And Haydn admits his fears and insecurities.