Bassoon and Piano - Grade
6-8
SKU: ST.C389
Composed by Various.
Arranged by Martin Gatt.
Wind and brass music.
Clifton Edition #C389.
Published by Clifton
Edition (ST.C389).
ISBN
9790570813896.
An
Album of Twenty French
Songs arranged for
Bassoon and Piano by
Martin
Gatt
Fauré??s
poignant love song Après
un rêve exists in many
different transcriptions
for various instruments
(the most famous version
perhaps being the one for
cello and piano that
Pablo Casals made in
1910), and provides the
initial inspiration for
this album of French
songs transcribed for
bassoon and piano. The
bassoon is capable of a
broad range of timbres
and expression, and it is
the lyrical, vocal
quality of the instrument
that Martin Gatt has
always been attracted to.
In both his performance
and teaching, his
emphasis is on the
importance of what he
calls ??vocalising??
through the bassoon, and
for him, music for the
voice ?? especially art
songs of the 19th and
20th centuries ?? has
been a rich source of
material for exploring
the expressive tonal
colours of the
bassoon.
The
treasure trove of French
art song from composers
ranging from Claude
Arrieu to Louis Vierne,
not to mention the greats
like Berlioz or Debussy
or Ravel, has made the
task of choosing which
songs to include in this
album a difficult one. In
the end, Martin has
settled on eight
composers who have
produced some of the most
appealing music in the
genre ?? Camille
Saint-Saëns (1835-1921),
Georges Bizet
(1838-1875), Emmanuel
Chabrier (1841-1894),
Jules Massenet
(1842-1912), Gabriel
Fauré (1845-1924), Henri
Duparc (1848-1933),
Cécile Chaminade
(1857-1944), and Francis
Poulenc (1899-1963).
Rather than grouping by
composer, the songs are
set out in a way that
contrasts different
emotional worlds and
sentiments, from the
vibrant exuberance of
Chabrier??s L??île
heureuse to the gentle
melancholy of Poulenc??s
Mais mourir. These
??songs without words?
for the bassoon, clearly
demonstrate the
instrument??s cantabile
qualities, varied
nuances, and wide-ranging
emotional
possibilities.
