Alex Manton MEGAPODE for solo bassoon Michele Colombo Bassoon

Alex Manton, a contemporary Australian composer born in 1981, wrote this piece for bassoon entitled Megapode.

The megapode is a bird with a squat body, small head and large feet, widespread in the Indo-Pacific region. Its main characteristic is that it lays its eggs in deep, protected, hard-to-reach holes and then fills the nest with so much organic material that there is no air passage. In this way the organic material ferments and develops heat. And this heat broods the eggs in the mother's stead. The chicks that are hatched have a finger that is much longer than the others, allowing them to dig a tunnel and go out into the open. 

Manton's piece begins with a repeating rhythmic cell reminiscent of the animal's cry.

Its pacing hints at a dance.

The central, calmer part takes us into the depths of the nest where the eggs are waiting to hatch. The final part picks up the rhythmic cry of the bird and its dance, until it recedes, perceiving only its breath.