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Commissioned by Makayla Rasmussen
When I began to write this duet for French Horn and Bassoon, I was immediately taken back about nine years to the last time I wrote a duet for two wind instruments. (Re)Inventions was the title of a duet that I wrote in 2016, inspired by the theme of that summer's Bowdoin International Music Festival, (Re)Invention. I found myself in a similar mental space writing this new piece, exploring the independence and interaction of two instrumental voices when treated equally. My intention in both of these works is to use the Baroque invention form as a launching point into the 21st century's musical possibilities.
The first movement takes on two meanings of the word "reflection" - 1, as one has a serious thought or consideration, and 2, as a replicated image, like one seen in a mirror or on the surface of water. It begins slowly with an extended melody that thoughtfully echoes between the two instruments in canon. This imitation is strict for a while until the music pauses and a new melody emerges, and this time its echo is upside down, pushing both instruments to opposite sides of their ranges. Finally, the opening melody returns with its echo now heard closer in time than at the beginning, not necessarily creating a greater sense of urgency, but more like a pair of dancers pulling closer to one another.
The second movement, Funk, takes on just that: funkiness. The main idea is a quick syncopated gesture that repeats incessantly and bounces around the two instruments as it grows in a minimalistic fashion. It sprouts new rhythmic and melodic branches as the texture churns into a funky EDM groove, using diminished harmonies and high-paced hocketing between the duet.
Duration: ca. 6'30"
Like the initial (Re)Inventions, there are many instrumentations - French Horn and Bass Clarinet, Clarinet and Bass Clarinet, Bass Clarinet Duet, Tenor Saxophone and Bass Clarinet
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