People have always enjoyed pizzicato moments and movements in classical music – the famous 'Pizzicato Polka' and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony immediately spring to mind. There are other brief examples, too, hidden in the normal 'arco' movements. However, few pieces have ever given the pizzicato accompaniment to the less sonorous violins and viola, and coaxed out all the wonderfully open and deep vibrations of the Double-bass in pizzicato, as if they were the soloists, and this is also true to a lesser extent for the cello. That is what I have done here; that is why the piece description is truthfully - 'Popular Miniature for Strings with special interest for Double-bass'.

It only lasts for about four minutes, but I hope that some of the Prokofiev-type humour will shine through, and that a couple of disguised themes might prove amusing. It is not at all hard technically, but the control of the fluctuating 'tempo' is very important to achieve convincing performances. In lighter music programmes or as an 'encore' is where this piece is so ideally placed, but it could be an interesting fun study-piece in the control of pizzicato techniques! However, it is well worth pointing out that this little composition works absolutely perfectly in string orchestral formations and in this way it might be very appealing to competent double-bass sections who all are too often 'hidden away' from the limelight, but are really non-acknowledged 'stars'!

When I was writing this I could not help thinking of my colleague and friend, the extraordinary bassist Piotr Korewjo, who for a number of years has been the Principal Double-bassist in the 'Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra' (Spain). His improvisations in pizzicato (both in classical and jazz) and his image frequently came to my head whilst contemplating this little piece, which made it much easier to write. Taking this into account, obviously he had to be the dedicatee of this joyous composition!

The first performance of the piece was by the orchestral version, and given by the 'Swinging Strings' of the Basque National Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi) who immediately afterwards recorded the work on CD (on the 'Entre Dos Mundos' CD, available from Creighton's Collection). On both occasions the conductor was Caroline Collier.