1821-1889. Italian contrabassist and musical composer, he studied music at the Milan Conservatory, devoting himself especially to the double-bass, an instrument with which his name is principally associated. He chose to specialize in the double bass because, upon his application to the Milan Conservatory in 1835, it was one of only two remaining scholarships. He left the conservatory in 1839 and toured throughout the United States and Europe, earning the nickname "the Paganini of the double bass." He also occupied the position of principal double-bass in the theatre at Havana. In 1849 he made his first appearance in England, playing double-bass solos at one of the Musical Union concerts. After this he made frequent visits to England, and his extraordinary command of his unwieldy instrument gained him great popularity in London and the provinces. Apart from his triumphs as a performer, Bottesini was a conductor of European reputation and he diversified the toils of conducting by repeated concert tours through the principal countries of Europe. He also wrote The Garden of Olivet, a devotional oratorio (libretto by Joseph Bennett), which was produced at the Norwich festival in 1887, a concerto for the double-bass, and numerous songs and minor instrumental pieces.