| RICHARD "DOBBS" HARTSHORNE Known ubiquitously as Dobbs, Richard Hartshorne began formal bass studies comparatively late, at age 17. Within three months he was accepted at the Oberlin Conservatory and within three years was playing in the American Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. He simultaneously attended the Juilliard School, studying with Stuart Sankey and emerging with a master’s degree. |
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COMPOSITIONS
TELLING MOVIES, op. 1 (September 1985)
THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER, op. 2 (September 1986)
CUENTOS DE BOLIVIA, op. 3 (September 1987)
YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, op. 4 (September 1988)
KIDS, op. 5 (September 1989)
HISTORY OF THE BASS PART ONE MY STORY, op. 6 (June 1991)
ALASKAN JOURNAL, op. 7 (September 1991)
CHOCOLATE, WAR, AND TIME, op. 8 (July 9, 1992)
NOT THE WORST THING, op. 9 (September 1992)
RICHARD THE 10TH PART 11 FOR BETTER AND FOR WURST, op. 10 (June 1993)
ME AND CRAND CENTRAL, op. 11 (September 1993)
LOST AND FOUND, op. 12 (June 1994)
NEW HAMPSHIRE STORIES, op. 13 (September 1994)
INTERVIEW WITH THE DWARF, op. 14 (January 1995)
THE MESSIAH, op. 15 (June 8, 1995)
DARKNESS AT MIDNIGHT, op. 16 (September 1995)
SALUTE TO AN AMERICAN HERO WITH VARIATIONS ON A PATRIOTIC THEME, op. 17 (January 1996)
SCENES FROM MOVIES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CUT, op. 18 (September 1996)
WOLVES, LOVE, AND DONUTS, op. 19 (September 96)
A PARABLE, op. 20 (January 1997)
DOCUDRAMA 1: HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE, op. 21 (January 16, 1998, 12:49 p.m.)
CRIME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, op. 22 (March 10, 1998)
TAIL OF WOE, op. 23 (September 1999)
URATA’S ERRATA, op. 24 (December 1999)
ANOTHER FAIRYTALE, op. 25 (December 2000)
LA VENDETTA, op. 26 (March 2001)
THE SADDEST DAY, op. 27 (April 6, 2002, 1:33 p.m.)
TELLING MOVIES, op. 1 (September 1985)
THREE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER, op. 2 (September 1986)
CUENTOS DE BOLIVIA, op. 3 (September 1987)
YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, op. 4 (September 1988)
KIDS, op. 5 (September 1989)
HISTORY OF THE BASS PART ONE MY STORY, op. 6 (June 1991)
ALASKAN JOURNAL, op. 7 (September 1991)
CHOCOLATE, WAR, AND TIME, op. 8 (July 9, 1992)
NOT THE WORST THING, op. 9 (September 1992)
RICHARD THE 10TH PART 11 FOR BETTER AND FOR WURST, op. 10 (June 1993)
ME AND CRAND CENTRAL, op. 11 (September 1993)
LOST AND FOUND, op. 12 (June 1994)
NEW HAMPSHIRE STORIES, op. 13 (September 1994)
INTERVIEW WITH THE DWARF, op. 14 (January 1995)
THE MESSIAH, op. 15 (June 8, 1995)
DARKNESS AT MIDNIGHT, op. 16 (September 1995)
SALUTE TO AN AMERICAN HERO WITH VARIATIONS ON A PATRIOTIC THEME, op. 17 (January 1996)
SCENES FROM MOVIES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CUT, op. 18 (September 1996)
WOLVES, LOVE, AND DONUTS, op. 19 (September 96)
A PARABLE, op. 20 (January 1997)
DOCUDRAMA 1: HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE, op. 21 (January 16, 1998, 12:49 p.m.)
CRIME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, op. 22 (March 10, 1998)
TAIL OF WOE, op. 23 (September 1999)
URATA’S ERRATA, op. 24 (December 1999)
ANOTHER FAIRYTALE, op. 25 (December 2000)
LA VENDETTA, op. 26 (March 2001)
THE SADDEST DAY, op. 27 (April 6, 2002, 1:33 p.m.)
in his performances: the First Suite, BWV 1007, in a 1969 La Paz recital; movements on tour in the Altiplano; the Fifth Suite,
BWV 1011, at his 1978 Alice Tully Hall, New York debut. The 1980 Goodman House, New York audience heard the First
Suite and thereafter all the ONE MAN SHOWS included one of the Six Suites. Extensive experimentation with scordatura
(non-standard) tunings of the bass, as well as using different basses with distinct scordatura tunings, allowed him to achieve the
ringing, free (open string) chords Bach indicated in writing one of the first pieces to exploit the violoncello as a solo instrument.
In 1992 he began recording the Suites in the original keys and octaves. This was a four-year process but the recording was
released in 1997 and received a stunning review in FANFARE (Centaur CRC 2348/49/50).
BACH WITH VERSE
In 2000, from Ireland, he received an invitation to perform all the Suites on a single concert. Two years of physical, emotional,
and musical preparation led to a wonderful performance in June of 2002, at the Verbal Arts Centre in the old city portion of
Derry, Northern Ireland. Poetry Ireland/Eigse Eireann, The National Poetry Organization, made the match between Macdara
Woods and BACH played by Hartshorne. Macdara Woods selected some of his poems and read interleaved with the Suites.
A little over a year later, Woods completed a poem inspired by Dobbs’ performance, “The Cello Suites” and this is the work
to be contrasted with the marathon performance of all Six Suites in this
project.
DISTINCTIVE CAREER
Latin America
After graduation from Juilliard, he joined the Peace Corps and began a six-year Latin American odyssey, beginning in Bolivia.
He became a member of the National Symphony, performed concerti with the orchestra, appeared in recital all over the
country, often at American cultural centers, and taught at the National Conservatory. He made several trips to Altiplano
villages with two other musicians and two ballet dancers, performing for Aymara Indians who had never seen western
instruments or dance. Pictures and text about one of these tours appeared in SUNDAY Magazine, syndicated in the U.S.
After three years, he moved to Costa Rica and was one of the designers of their free youth music program, still a model for
youth programs around the world, along with its performance component, Sinfonica Juvenil.
Chamber Music and Educational Programs
Returning to the U.S. in 1973, he began a thirty-year stint as bassist with the Apple Hill Chamber Players and as a faculty
member of the Apple Hill Summer Festival. For five years he directed the federally-funded Young Musicians Development
program for gifted and talented, which he designed. Modeled on the Costa Rican program, it was free to students chosen by a
competitive musical aptitude test and then formed into string quartets. First Lady Rosalyn Carter enjoyed one of their
performances on a trip to New Hampshire. For the past six years, he directed the Apple Hill Summer Festival Program,
responsible for recruiting over 250 students annually as well as supervising faculty and staff.
Solo
After his debut recital at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in December 1978, he also played at Goodman House in 1980; but
turned his solo bass efforts towards the comic/theatre repertoire; Tom Johnson’s Failing, Jacob Druckman’s Valentine, as well
as several Jon Deak works. This was popular with audiences and he played many school and small concert performances
around New England. Honing his acting skills led to additional pieces by Deak, John Steinmetz, and Frank Becker.
Commissions
As a full-time chamber musician (perhaps unique among bassists), he performed and expanded the repertoire, encouraging
composers Jon Deak, George Tzantakis, Tyson Street, Neely Bruce, John Steinmetz, and Dexter Morrill to write works that
included bass. He transcribed many works, with the bass substitution bringing a different sound and quality to a familiar work.
Compositions
In 1984 he plunged into writing for himself, “Telling Movies” appeared in two anthologies and was performed in 1985 at the
National Bass Convention in Austin, Texas. Since then he has written 27 works for solo bass/narrator, sometimes including
percussion, slides, soundtracks, and props. His ONE MAN SHOWS are a cult phenomenon around the country. Recently,
Harvard student radio broadcast a 10-hour marathon of Dobbs. When PLAYING for PEACE began in 1992, traveling to
Israel and neighboring Arab countries, he included a solo comedic work on every program. Unsatisfied with the polite
response of the listeners, he began to have his texts translated and learned to perform them in Hebrew and Arabic. Audience
enthusiasm shaped his choice of material and his gift of mimicry has enabled him to expand to Polish, Turkish, Greek,
Armenian, Azeri, Georgian, Mandarin, and Egyptian dialects.
BWV 1011, at his 1978 Alice Tully Hall, New York debut. The 1980 Goodman House, New York audience heard the First
Suite and thereafter all the ONE MAN SHOWS included one of the Six Suites. Extensive experimentation with scordatura
(non-standard) tunings of the bass, as well as using different basses with distinct scordatura tunings, allowed him to achieve the
ringing, free (open string) chords Bach indicated in writing one of the first pieces to exploit the violoncello as a solo instrument.
In 1992 he began recording the Suites in the original keys and octaves. This was a four-year process but the recording was
released in 1997 and received a stunning review in FANFARE (Centaur CRC 2348/49/50).
BACH WITH VERSE
In 2000, from Ireland, he received an invitation to perform all the Suites on a single concert. Two years of physical, emotional,
and musical preparation led to a wonderful performance in June of 2002, at the Verbal Arts Centre in the old city portion of
Derry, Northern Ireland. Poetry Ireland/Eigse Eireann, The National Poetry Organization, made the match between Macdara
Woods and BACH played by Hartshorne. Macdara Woods selected some of his poems and read interleaved with the Suites.
A little over a year later, Woods completed a poem inspired by Dobbs’ performance, “The Cello Suites” and this is the work
to be contrasted with the marathon performance of all Six Suites in this
project.
DISTINCTIVE CAREER
Latin America
After graduation from Juilliard, he joined the Peace Corps and began a six-year Latin American odyssey, beginning in Bolivia.
He became a member of the National Symphony, performed concerti with the orchestra, appeared in recital all over the
country, often at American cultural centers, and taught at the National Conservatory. He made several trips to Altiplano
villages with two other musicians and two ballet dancers, performing for Aymara Indians who had never seen western
instruments or dance. Pictures and text about one of these tours appeared in SUNDAY Magazine, syndicated in the U.S.
After three years, he moved to Costa Rica and was one of the designers of their free youth music program, still a model for
youth programs around the world, along with its performance component, Sinfonica Juvenil.
Chamber Music and Educational Programs
Returning to the U.S. in 1973, he began a thirty-year stint as bassist with the Apple Hill Chamber Players and as a faculty
member of the Apple Hill Summer Festival. For five years he directed the federally-funded Young Musicians Development
program for gifted and talented, which he designed. Modeled on the Costa Rican program, it was free to students chosen by a
competitive musical aptitude test and then formed into string quartets. First Lady Rosalyn Carter enjoyed one of their
performances on a trip to New Hampshire. For the past six years, he directed the Apple Hill Summer Festival Program,
responsible for recruiting over 250 students annually as well as supervising faculty and staff.
Solo
After his debut recital at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in December 1978, he also played at Goodman House in 1980; but
turned his solo bass efforts towards the comic/theatre repertoire; Tom Johnson’s Failing, Jacob Druckman’s Valentine, as well
as several Jon Deak works. This was popular with audiences and he played many school and small concert performances
around New England. Honing his acting skills led to additional pieces by Deak, John Steinmetz, and Frank Becker.
Commissions
As a full-time chamber musician (perhaps unique among bassists), he performed and expanded the repertoire, encouraging
composers Jon Deak, George Tzantakis, Tyson Street, Neely Bruce, John Steinmetz, and Dexter Morrill to write works that
included bass. He transcribed many works, with the bass substitution bringing a different sound and quality to a familiar work.
Compositions
In 1984 he plunged into writing for himself, “Telling Movies” appeared in two anthologies and was performed in 1985 at the
National Bass Convention in Austin, Texas. Since then he has written 27 works for solo bass/narrator, sometimes including
percussion, slides, soundtracks, and props. His ONE MAN SHOWS are a cult phenomenon around the country. Recently,
Harvard student radio broadcast a 10-hour marathon of Dobbs. When PLAYING for PEACE began in 1992, traveling to
Israel and neighboring Arab countries, he included a solo comedic work on every program. Unsatisfied with the polite
response of the listeners, he began to have his texts translated and learned to perform them in Hebrew and Arabic. Audience
enthusiasm shaped his choice of material and his gift of mimicry has enabled him to expand to Polish, Turkish, Greek,
Armenian, Azeri, Georgian, Mandarin, and Egyptian dialects.
BACH SUITES
Hartshorne’s devotion to the Bach Suites (J. S. Bach’s Six Suites a Violoncello
Solo, BWV 1007 - 1012) started in 1967, at Juilliard, when he purchased a
Barenreiter edition. He was captivated by the desire to play the Suites so that
they sounded as if written for the bass. Wherever he went, they found a place
Hartshorne’s devotion to the Bach Suites (J. S. Bach’s Six Suites a Violoncello
Solo, BWV 1007 - 1012) started in 1967, at Juilliard, when he purchased a
Barenreiter edition. He was captivated by the desire to play the Suites so that
they sounded as if written for the bass. Wherever he went, they found a place