By RON WASSERMAN

My teacher, David Walter, who died in July at age 90, was a man of soaring accomplishments who had an influence on the practice of playing the double bass matched by few other people. Not only was he one of the most talented musicians I ever met, but he was one of the most brilliant people I ever interacted with. I was very privileged not only to have been his student but to have been his colleague at the New York City Ballet Orchestra for nine years. We kept track and realized that he held the world record for number of performances played of The Nutcracker by a bassist (1,300). He could play the bass part from memory, even in his sleep if occasionally necessary, and sometimes he added bits of the melody, countermelodies, and percussion parts, usually performing those extras better than the instruments he was emulating. He always used his Plumerel bass at the ballet because it was said that it was the very bass Degas used as a model in his famous painting—you know, the one with the bass player and the bassoonist in the Paris Ballet Orchestra.

As a pedagogue he won a devoted following by all who observed him. His insights into music and his wit were legendary. He spent much of his time talking (to students or anyone else who would listen) about the great musicians he had known, most notably Toscanini and Casals, in order to keep their legends vibrant. His students and those musicians and non-musicians he inspired number in the thousands and are on all continents. His students have students who are now professional musicians. So do his students' students' students. Until his late 80s he had more energy than those a quarter his age. I remember seeing him running down the street to a concert, leading a bunch of young people who were struggling to keep an ever widening gap of pavement from getting to the point where he disappeared from view.

Last year, when he became ill, several of us—led by bassist and composer Frank Proto, another of his former students—joined forces and published an album of solo bass pieces dedicated to him. A few months later, everyone got together for a 90th-birthday concert at Juilliard. Bert Turetzky, Frank Proto, John Feeney, Patrick Neher, Tony Falanga, Nico Abondolo, Mark Deutsch, Fred Zlotkin and Conway Kuo played. (I hope I am not forgetting anyone.) Joseph Polisi gave a tremendous speech in tribute to him that was full of charm and wit. Not to be outclassed or to let an opportunity of a captive audience pass, Dave pulled his remaining energy together, walked onstage, and gave a marvelous speech too. No one could out-wit or out-charm him if he set his mind to it. It was obvious that he was touched by the musical and spoken tributes. We knew he was ill, so we all cried a little, but most of all, we marveled at how good the bass playing he had inspired was. Those who knew him will never forget him—and I, for one, will work hard to keep his legend alive. After all, he was one of the great musicians too.

Back to David Walter's obituary.

Ron Wasserman, who earned his master's degree from Juilliard in 1985, is principal bass of the New York City Ballet Orchestra. He lives in Rockland County and in his spare time is a devoted composer and house renovator.