Bassoon and Piano

SKU: ST.C183

Composed by Graham Sheen. Wind & brass music. Clifton Edition #C183. Published by Clifton Edition (ST.C183).

ISBN 9790570811830.

Drunken Sailor — the sequel
This needs a plaintive tone especially in the upper register where the dynamics are particularly important. To capture the mood of the piece those slurs in bars 35 and 36, for example, might even be close to a glissando. Use your imagination to recreate the sailor’s state of health!

The Vulgar Boatman
Not only more hidden melodies but more appalling puns! (Volga Boatman for those not versed in Russian folksongs). This is like a waltz: it is written in 3/4 time but played so as to give the impression of one beat in bar. The melodies need to be well sustained so that we hear four, eight or even more bars as a single phrase. Clues for the musical detective:- in addition to the Volga Boatman, you might spot just a hint of Sailing down the River on a Sunday Afternoon, We Sail the Ocean Blue (H.M.S. Pinafore), The Eton Boating Song and even Wagner’s Flying Dutchman.

Last Tango in Harris
Everyone must surely know these thinly disguised Scottish tunes, but can you make them sound like a tango? Bear in mind that tangos are not jazz: the rhythm is quite strict, but the tango character is in the tone and the phrasing. Notice how expressive the occasional shorter note value can be, as in bars 4 and 5 in the bassoon part.

Rheumanian Stretches
Or was that Rumanian Sketches? This is a chance to play the main melody in two registers of the bassoon. Try to make a good even sound in both octaves. This piece requires careful counting since the phrases in the bassoon part don’t always begin where you might expect. Think of this piece as a song.
Four Pieces for Bassoon and Piano

Grade 3
Former Spartan Press Cat. No.: SP1163.

Bassoon and Piano

SKU: ST.C182

Composed by Graham Sheen. Wind & brass music. Clifton Edition #C182. Published by Clifton Edition (ST.C182).

ISBN 9790570811823.

Bodhán
The melody here is very broken up, so breathe and be ready for the next entry in good time. Don’t drag behind the drum in the piano part. Notice that only some of the notes are marked staccato.

À la Modal
Modes are scales based on the white notes of the piano, say, so you won’t find a single accidental in this piece. It shows that expression in music depends on more than just the dynamics, that is, how loudly and softly you play. We also need to observe the articulation markings such as staccato, tenuto and the accents on both long and short notes.

Schubert’s Ghost
Schubert is one of my favourite composers. I hope you enjoy the swing of the dotted rhythms and accents in this little Viennese impression. There are three musical quotations: one from Schubert himself, one from a later Viennese composer, Gustav Mahler and, near the end, the Dies Irae tune which has been used by many composers.
Three Pieces for Bassoon and Piano

Grade 2
Former Spartan Press Cat. No.: SP1162.

Bassoon, piano

SKU: FG.55011-524-8

Composed by Kirmo Lintinen. Score and part. Fennica Gehrman #55011-524-8. Published by Fennica Gehrman (FG.55011-524-8).

ISBN 9790550115248.

In Kirmo Lintinen's Rondo burlesque (2007-2008) for bassoon and piano , the qualitative elements of the bar, with their upbeats, accents and GPs, create a refined musical rhetoric and are very much to the fore. At the premiere, Lintinen's manner of playing, with its sparing use of the pedal obscuring the first beat but not the sense of time, underlined the inherent character of the piece. The roguish poetic metres gambolled jerkily along, and although at surface level the music may appear guileless, Lintinen knows his polyphony, judging by the capital roving of his voices even in the homophonic textures. Kirmo Lintinen (b. 1967) is a man of many musical talents: composer, pianist and conductor. His catalogue encompasses almost all gen-res and categories of composition, from solo work to opera, and he operates with ease from one to another without being a crossover artist; in his case, the versatility is both internalised and innate. He often finds inspiration in French music of the 1920s and its intrinsic musicality. Humour and playfulness are characteristic elements of his music, as are a natural, musicianly approach and an enchantingly effervescent, even tongue-in-cheek texture.