Title: Duo for Flute and Bassoon

Instruments: Flute and Bassoon

Program Notes:

Duo for Flute and Bassoon is an exploration of timbral qualities in the context of an expanding scale.  The first movement, Slow Dance (bassoon solo), is built around an ever-changing melodic pattern.  Here, the microtonal aspects are introduced slowly, and tend to be played for harmonic reasons rather than melodic.  In the second movement, Quirky, for solo flute, the microtones have a mostly melodic basis.  The third movement, entitled Talkin’ in Church, or Tippin’ the Scales, combines both the instrumentation from the preceding movements and the microtonal aspects.  There are sections of fast scalar patterns that become more and more densely populated with microtones that are juxtaposed with chorale-like sections where the intervals are slightly larger or smaller than we are used to.  By the end, both of these sections are also integrated.  This piece was written for Mark Fromm and Kerrith Livengood.

First Performed: 2009: Alia Musica Pittsburgh