Patrick Süskind, Der Kontrabass [The Double Bass]

Jeffrey T. Adams (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1981

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

The theater piece

Der Kontrabass

[

The Double Bass

] premiered in 1981 in Munich at the Cuvillietheater, with Niklaus Paryla in the title role. A wryly humorous monodrama,

Der Kontrabass

consists of one uninterrupted monologue delivered by a classical bassist whose frustrated desire for professional and personal recognition gradually emerges amid self-deprecations and witty anecdotal jabs at the world of classical music.

Speaking directly to his public from the intimate confines of his soundproofed bachelor's apartment, the bassist begins his self-ironic soliloquy with an overview of the role of the double bass in the classical orchestra, claiming that the bass is the most essential instrument, without which no orchestra could function properly. Any other instrument or player could be

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

717 words

Citation: Adams, Jeffrey T.. "Der Kontrabass". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16713, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Patrick Süskind, Der Kontrabass [The Double Bass]

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback