

I began composing in 1984, while a student at Cincinnati Conservatory, seeing the need for works for solo bass. Frank Proto, my mentor and teacher at CCM, was a great influence on my early years of composition, inspiring me with his prolific creativity and endless versatility to write in many different styles of music. He encouraged me to study orchestration and texture in scores of Mahler, Respighi and Rimsky-Korsakov. I grew up hearing all the masters under the baton of George Szell and Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, as my father, Ed Anderson, was their Bass Trombonist for over 20 years. Elliot Carter, Prokoviev, Mahler, Stravinski and Shostakovich have had the greatest influence on my writing. I had the privilege to show my early String Symphony and Bass Concerto to Maxim Shostakovich, and was delighted he recognized his father’s spirit in my pieces. My works also incorporate funk, jazz, and blues styles. I am currently working on several commissions, including Nonet, a work for the Musaica Chamber Ensemble. Many of my compositions are available at Really Good Music HERE
Unless otherwise noted, contact Dave HERE for compositions.
Classical Music:
Capriccio #2 for Solo Bass - available HERE
Couperin Variations - Sextet for Flute, Trombone, Violin, Viola, Bass & Harp
Dance Suite for Double Bass & Harp
Double Bass Quartet 1987
Eight Yule Logs for Double Bass Quartet
Elegy & Dance of Genesis for Viola & Piano
Elegy for Van for Solo Bass Trombone, Trombone Choir and Tuba
Five Romances for Double Bass & Harp
Four Short Pieces for Solo Double Bass
Funkapiccio 4 BG! for Bass & Piano
Mahler Three Lieder arranged for Solo Bass Trombone, Brass Choir and Harp
Octet (co-written with Dave Easley) for Bass Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello, Pedal Steel Guitar, Double Bass, Harp & Percussion
Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Double Bass
Seven Bass Duets (original version)
Seven Double Bass Duets (transcribed for Cello & Bass)
Sonata for Double Bass & Harp
Sonata #1 for Double Bass & Piano
Sonata #2 for Double Bass & Piano
Jazz Charts:
12 Töne Hip Bop
Blew Cheeze
Orchestral Rental (click HERE to request):
Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp
Concerto for Bass Trombone
“Celebration” Tone Poem for Orchestra, written in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Britt Festival Orchestra
“Laurifer Nisus” Tone Poem for Orchestra, written in honor of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra 25th Anniversary
“Sleepy Animals at Audubon Zoo” for Narrator and Orchestra
Coming Soon:
Concerto for Double Bass – Piano reduction (From ISB)
Nonet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass & Harp commissioned by the Musaica Chamber Ensemble
Many Brass Works
• First prize in the 1995 Allen Ostrander International Trombone Composition Competition, sponsored by Ithaca college, for Elegy for Van, a work for solo bass trombone and brass choir, composed as a tribute to the late Lewis Van Haney, former trombonist with the New York Philharmonic.
• Concerto for Bass Trombone, commissioned and premiered by my father, Edwin Anderson, former bass trombonist with the Cleveland Orchestra.
• Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Bassist Hal Robinson, premiered at the ISB Convention in June of 1997 and performed on the 1997-98 subscription series of the Philadelphia Orchestra season, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting.
• Bass quartet performed to acclaim at the Chamber Music Festival at Indiana University in 1993.
Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Double Bass:
Dance Suite for Double Bass & Harp, 3rd mvmt.:
“Sleepy Animals at Audubon Zoo” for Narrator and Orchestra:
Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola & Bass by David Anderson
Anderson’s new work is splendidly fresh and provocative, ingenious in how it distributes material ... the jazzy syncopations and ethnic flavorings reflect a diverse, expertly distilled inspiration. Thoroughly absorbed by yesterday’s performance, the piece offered sustained pleasure.
Concerto for Double Bass, Strings and Harp by David Anderson
... thoroughly appealing ... his rich scoring of the orchestra and expansive solo melodies came from a composer exuberantly in love with music.
Concerto for Double Bass, Strings and Harp by David Anderson
... a melodious work, whose moods cohere... the thoughtful, the nostalgic, the provocative. Ideas are fertile and cohesive.
Concerto for Double Bass, Strings and Harp by David Anderson
Anderson shows a gift for fashioning readily accessible music from unusual combinations of timbres.