If double bassist and composer Boguslaw Furtok had not come along on his own, it would have taken a combination of film directors Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder to dream him up. Furtok’s so involved with his instrument that he calls the Flying Basses a “string quartet.” After all, he points out, “at the top end, the double bass can even compete with the violin.”

Principal double bassist of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Furtok writes music of splendid power and beauty, compounded of a classical music hoard of borrowed references and gestures that are whipped into a poignant, engaging, and sometimes frenzied rhapsody of musical truth and purity. As a bass player, Furtok and his fellows strive for the kind of sleek, vibrant virtuosity that orchestras like Frankfurt demand. It’s euphonious like Giardini, passionate like Mendelssohn, romantic like André Rieu, and piquant like Brahms. Not bad for just basses.

Beyond mere unbridled pleasure, Furtok’s writing for four double basses reveals striking insights into how such a gargantuan enterprise becomes so musical, sleek, and thrilling. One reason is the classical technique and daring of Furtok himself, harking back to a more sophisticated time when command was no mere byword.

More important is how the middle and lower registers have been exploited to produce varieties of textures and layerings, from gruff to nearly transparent; it is here, too, where Furtok creates the most self-revealing, most expressive music.

Furtok’s short but enthusiastic liner notes will fire up every double bassist.