Cecilia McDowall . Blue Giant. Double Bass & Piano. Blue Giants are bright, very hot stars with a temperature of around 35,000 degrees centigrade. The hydrogen, which fuses the core, gives that brilliance. As the hydrogen fuel diminishes these stars shine with less intensity. The cool, tiny Red Dwarf is at the other end of the starry spectrum. In Blue Giant the double bass is the star. From the opening moments there are intimations of change. [Cecilia McDowall] Blue Giant was commissioned by David Heyes for DOUBLE BASS 2000, a ten year project to commission more than 100 works for double bass, with funds kindly provided by Double Bassist magazine. It was premiered at Trinity College of Music (London) on 8 October 2000 by Nenad Jovic (Double Bass) and Mark Ray (Piano). Blue Giant offers a range of challenges for the young bassist. An independent yet supportive and inventive piano accompaniment provides a wonderful range of colours against which the double bass weaves its slow lines of melody. Written entirely in bass clef, there effective musical and technical challenges, and scope to create an atmospheric work of beauty and contrasts. Blue Giant was first published as part of 'Bass-in-Space' which is no longer in print. Cecilia McDowall won several prizes for composition whilst still a student at Trinity College of Music. After taking time out to raise a family, she returned to composition, taking a Masters degree at the London College of Music and Media, where she gained first class honours and was awared the Wilfred Josephs Prize. She has studied composition with Joseph Horovitz, Robert Saxton and Adam Gorb. Cecilia McDowall was 'Composer-in-Residence' with the Fibonacci Sequence and writing a number of new works for different ensembles within the group, including Not Just a Place for viola, double bass and piano. Notable commissions include works for James Galway. London Musici, RAF Central Band and London Mozart Players.. Grade: 4 - 5