DUO

Composed: 2024
Commission: First movement, Disappearing Act, was commissioned by Kurt Rohde as part of the Community Commissions Initiative in celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Composers Conference
Premiere: July 21, 2024
Duration: 6 minutes
Instrumentation: Bassoon and Viola

I. Disappearing Act
II. Adagio
III. Allegro

PROGRAM NOTES

Composed in 2024, the first movement of Duo, called Disappearing Act was commissioned by Kurt Rohde as part of the Community Commissions Initiative in celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Composers Conference.  This was a commission for a one minute work, so after its premiere, I decided to add an Adagio and Allegro.  All the movements play with the color possibilities of the combination of bassoon and viola.  Since they can both be blending instruments, in some parts of this work, I tried to combine the instruments in a way that would obscure their individual sounds and create a new sound.  Other sections let each instrument have a solo voice.  The Allegro pushes the instruments into quick rhythmic transitions, and some percussive sounds.