Karr-Koussevitzky double bass
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Karr-Kousevitzky bass or Amati bass is a famous double bass previously belonging to Serge Koussevitzky and Gary Karr. Now generally referred to as the Karr-Koussevitzky rather than the Amati; until the early 2000s, the bass had been attributed to the Amati brothers, but now it is generally believed to have its origins in France. It is renowned for its tonal quality in solo music but is considered to be difficult to play.
The bass has been officially possessed by Koussevitzky, his widow, Karr, and the International Society of Bassists. After Koussevitzky died in 1951, the bass remained in the care of his wife, Olga, until 1962. Olga presented the instrument to Karr after attending one of his recitals. She said that she saw the ghost of her husband embrace him on stage, and took this as a sign to pass the bass on. Karr continued playing the instrument, and it became his main bass for over 40 years until he donated the instrument to the International Society of Bassists, an organization he founded. In 2011, the instrument was featured with bassist Scott Pingel and the San Francisco Academy Orchestra.
The origins of the bass have long been subject to speculation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Karr-Koussevitzky double bass” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.