Double bass Concerto no. 2 in B minor

Bottesini composed the B minor concerto in 1845, when the double bass was almost never heard as a solo instrument, and first played it himself in 1851. He tuned his three-string bass a tone above orchestral pitch, which gave him access to the upper register and to chordal passages otherwise unreachable, and the solo part assumes that tuning throughout. The score was not published until 1925, twelve years after his death. It is now the most performed concerto for the instrument and a fixture of orchestral auditions and conservatory examinations.