Werner Heider EREIGNISSE für Fagott (score-video) Michele Colombo BASSOON

‘Ereignisse’ for solo bassoon is dedicated to Wolfgang Peßler bassoonist of the Nuremberg State Philharmonic. Written in 2009 by Werner Heider (born 1 January 1930) German composer, pianist and conductor is characterised by the use of the voice. The words, clearly pronounced and marked in rhythm, declaim the various musical ‘events’ that make up the piece. The cover design is by Vincent Dalschaert.

F.R. Gebauer CAPRICCIO IV per fagotto solo

A pupil of François Devienne and teacher of Eugène Jancourt, François-Rène Gebauer (1773-1845) belongs in his own right to the ranks of French bassoonists and composers who contributed to the development and spread of the bassoon. A teacher at the Paris Conservatoire from 1795 to 1802 and then from 1824-1838, his ‘Six Caprices for Bassoon Solo’, used by his students, represent a valuable teaching tool for expanding and consolidating bassoon technique. The Fourth Capriccio is structured in three movements that follow one another without a break. The first movement, an Allegro assai, is articulated in three themes set in three different keys: C, A and D major, the latter in a six-octave time, as opposed to the general two-quarter time. The second movement is itself divided into two parts an andante and an allegro in Bb major.

The third movement, a Rondo allegro in F major ends with the return of an excerpt from the first movement.

The edition I used is the Accolade Musiverlag edition published by Bodo Koenigsbeck. 

THE STORY OF THE LITTLE HAG music of Paul Lewis (Almost a Waltz from Fou...

La testa gli comincia a fumare. I pensieri accatastati nel cervello iniziano a bruciare. La befana vuol trovare qualcuno da mandare per il cielo con la scopa. Magari giovincella, sorridente e forse bella. Bussano alla porta. Una ragazzina che ha fatto un gran casotto ha scambiato la scopa per un fagotto. Di calze ne hai bucate? Indaga la vecchia sperando nella fortuna. Un buchino appena appena, confessa la befanella. Crescerà con il tempo, entra e taci che mi scappa un incantesimo e in quattro e quattr’otto la scopa diventa un fagotto. Ora vola per il mondo a cantar la tua canzone che sa di dolci e di carbone, Il primo volo è a rotta di collo, pare un acrobata senza controllo. Poi riga dritta la befanella, tra il fumo di vecchi pensieri viaggia fra le stelle distribuendo caramelle.

W.A.Mozart "Fin ch'han dal vino" Variazioni per fagotto di Žilvinas Smal...

Come ultimo brano di quest’anno propongo di brindare con Don Giovanni, che nella sua aria tratta dal I atto dell’opera di Mozart così canta:

“Fin ch’han dal vino calda la testa,

 una gran festa fa preparar!”

Un brindisi festoso alla Vita che scorre! Con l’augurio di lasciarla fluire senza frapporre i nostri desideri. Senza ubriacarsi per cercare di superare lo smarrimento nella stagno delle nostre dighe.

Ecco dunque le “Variazioni sul Don Giovanni” di Žilvinas Smalys per fagotto solo (2021)

 

E.Bordeau THE CHRISTMAS BASSOON CAROL from the Thirty Studies for bassoo...

From E. Bordeau's ‘Thirty Etudes for Bassoon’, I extrapolated No. 9, a 9/8 andante in E Major. I chose it to create a small Christmas tribute that I entitled ‘The Christmas Bassoon Carol’. I packed it with silhouette images that tell the simple story of a little girl who receives a small bassoon as a gift. Having the means to bring one's passion to life, so that one can apply the intent, I find is the best one can have.  HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Eugène Jancourt GRANDE SONATA n.3 for Bassoon

A grand sonata to resemble a symphony with its four movements in half an hour of music, this is the third of E. Jancourt's ‘TROIS GRANDES SONATES pour basson avec accompagnement d'un 2° Basson’ composed in 1847 and published by Billaudot in the Costallat collection.

In the history of the bassoon, the figure of Eugène Louis-Marie Jancourt is certainly one of the most important. Born in France in 1815, he was a virtuoso bassoonist, a passionate pedagogue and a composer, as well as having dedicated himself, together with his colleague Luois Auguste Buffet, to modifying the bassoon in its form at the time to make it a more reliable solo instrument. When he entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 19, Eugène brought with him a suitcase full of talent and a case with a bassoon in poor condition. So his teacher, F.R. Gebauer, who did not want to see such a promising pupil's failure because of a ruined instrument, gave him one of his bassoons as a present. His generosity was soon rewarded by winning an important prize set up by the conservatory for its best pupils in his second year. He was to graduate in 1837 at the age of 22, only three years at the conservatoire. His playing was known for its ‘purity and charm which, in its resemblance to the human voice, avoided all elements of the grotesque’. In 1843, he joined the Théâtre Italien as first bassoon, a role he held until 1869. He also toured Italy, as well as London and various cities in France. He became a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire in 1875 until 1891 when he retired and continued to make improvements to the bassoon in its mechanical deficiencies. Eugène Jancourt died on 29 January 1901 in Boulogne-ser-Seine at the age of 85. He left 119 published works, most of them dedicated to his beloved bassoon. The recording features Giulia Clocchiatti

Philippe Hersant HOPI pour basson solo Michele Colombo Bassoon

HOPI for bassoon solo, by French composer Philippe Hersant (1948), is a tribute to the Hopi Indians, who live in the state of Arizona.

The composer has borrowed the motif of one of their songs, a little distorted by the time, as the author states, and repeats it with slight variations in the high register of the bassoon. It could conjure up the image of a circle that tears itself over and over again, Hersant suggests.

In the lower register of the instrument, on the other hand, slightly terrifying multiphonic sounds are created.

The composition dates from 1985 and is dedicated to Alexandre Ouzounoff who edited the first draft; the final version was written in 1994 by Pascal Gallois.

I share a poem of mine inspired by the piece:

In a circle around the fire

crackles the night in flaming stars.

From the churning ashes rises a song of smoke

the echo shimmers among the silent stars.

Black burns its fear 

and red warms the heart.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)