The origin of Six Vignettes is somewhat unusual: about half of  the melodic ideas came from a series of recorded voice messages. These  were very loosely transcribed and molded into tonal melodies and  coherent rhythms, which provided a variety of distinct characters that  the composer came to think of as a set of 'vignettes'.
1. Prelude
The  prelude introduces most of the thematic material used throughout the  whole suite as well as a stylistic indication of what to expect from the  work.
2. Reverie
A  short, dreamlike piece that also serves as a seamless introduction to  the Dirge. These two movements can be used in isolation to serve as pair  of contrasting pieces encompassing most of the instrument's range.
3. Dirge
A  dark and heavy piece of music fully exploiting the particular character  and sonority of the double bass. Performance solutions can be devised  by players without gated C extensions, although this will necessitate  even more shifting and compromise the open string resonance.
4. Berceuse
A  jazz lullaby performed entirely pizzicato. Somewhat naive in its  harmonic simplicity but provides light relief after the Dirge, as well  as stylistic variation within the suite as a whole. This movement was  originally an improvisation based around the main pattern; ad lib is  therefore encouraged!
5. Lament
A  return to the style and (melo)drama of earlier movements. This  temporarily sombre mood is relieved and resolved by the more uplifting  following movement, performed attacca.
6. Denouement
Although there is no deliberate narrative thread linking the Six Vignettes,  a sense of storytelling is inevitable in any work consisting of  multiple contrasting movements. The denouement brings the suite to its  resolution, and the 'plot' to its conclusion...
The piece is written for 4-string double bass with C-Extension.