SLSO Musician Brings New Life to Former Colleague’s Double Bass

By Eric Dundon

With its deep pitch and deeper history, a 19th-century double bass that once played in Powell Hall has returned to St. Louis, thanks to the efforts of Erik Harris, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Principal Double Bassist.

The double bass previously belonged to Richard Muehlmann, a former member of the SLSO from 1965 to 2005. Muehlmann acquired the bass from Roger Scott, the former Principal Double Bassist of the Philadelphia Orchestra who also taught at the Curtis Institute, where Muehlmann was a student.

For years, Harris heard Muehlmann’s instrument in the double bass section and recalled its intense energy. Harris described Muehlmann as a “muscle player” whose sound helped develop the bass-friendly warmth often associated with the SLSO.

“The sound I remember hearing was one of volume,” Harris said. “It was like a chainsaw back there,” he added good-naturedly.

Upon retirement, Muehlmann relocated to the East Coast, but the memory of that powerful double bass stuck with Harris. Following Muehlmann’s passing in 2017, Harris received a phone call from an attorney handling the estate inquiring about his interest in the instrument. He decided to take a chance on his old colleague’s double bass.

The process of restoring an instrument of this age, Harris said, can be expensive and time-consuming. For Harris, the risk was worth it to preserve what was, at minimum, an old bass with an interesting history.

“You have to buy the thing, then you have to spend the money to have it restored,” he said. “And if no one is willing to take that on, the instrument just dies. I had no expectations, and I just followed the energy.”

Harris first connected with Top Notch Violins, a local string instrument store, whose evaluators deduced the original maker from the unique scroll—the decorative top end of an upright bass that also contains the tuning pegs. From there, Harris connected with Zachary Martin, a luthier (craftsperson specializing in the building or repair of string instruments) based in Rhode Island. Martin confirmed the instrument is the work of Léopold Noiriel, one of the earliest luthiers who focused exclusively on double basses. During the 1820s, the French-born Noiriel worked in the Italian shop of Giuseppe Rocca, whose violins are highly regarded and extremely valuable.

“With Zachary Martin’s knowledge of the provenance, he felt that the instrument was important enough that it should be restored,” Harris said.

He brought it to the luthier’s shop in 2019. Restoring an instrument is a time-consuming and meticulous process that includes disassembling the instrument, correcting imperfections, reconditioning the wood, and sometimes adding new pieces of wood alongside the original. Martin and associate Corey Swan painstakingly poured years of craftsmanship into the instrument, which Harris said “had been beat up pretty good” following decades of heavy use.

In April, Harris drove east to pick up the renovated instrument—flying the fragile bass was too big of a gamble. Now back home in St. Louis, he has been breaking in the instrument at home as it settles into its restoration.

Harris predicts that his newly restored Noiriel bass will occasionally make appearances on the Powell Hall stage. It joins his primary concert instrument, a Johannes Gagliano bass from 1804.

“There’s a sentimental value in keeping the instrument in St. Louis,” Harris said. “I think Richard [Muehlmann] fancied himself as having the potential to be principal. He never made it to principal, but his bass did, so that makes me feel good.”

A self-admitted creature of habit, Harris has held onto other sentimental objects related to the SLSO’s double bass section. He still sits on the stool used by legendary long-time Principal Double Bassist Henry Loew—whose name is now attached to the SLSO’s Principal Double Bass Chair in perpetuity.

“Instruments elicit an emotional response,” Harris said. “For me, it was really about taking a piece of history and restoring it. There is something very gratifying about taking something like that and restoring it to its former glory.”

Eric Dundon is the SLSO’s Public Relations Director.