Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) was widely regarded as the Paganini of the double bass and was one of the first champions of the instrument. Though he composed a wide range of music, from chamber music to operas, his legacy is his contribution to the double bass repertoire. Due to the similar ranges of the instruments, this repertoire is a perfect candidate for adaptation for contra clarinets. In this arrangement, the solo part fit so well into the range of the clarinet, it only made sense to keep the solo part the same for each instrument (contrabass and contralto) and to transpose the piano part. Thus, a single solo part is included, as well as two separate piano parts, corresponding to the contrabass clarinet (in B-flat) and contralto clarinet (in E-flat).

This work can be played with either a contrabass or contralto clarinet.