Woodwind Duet

Flt and Bsn Learn More

Flute, Clarinet and Piano; Commissioned by Yuensuo Yang for Trio 2:1 Learn More

Flute and Clarinet Learn More

Flute and Oboe with Wind Ensemble, Movement I - Allegro Learn More

Oboe, Bassoon and Piano

Felix Mendelssohn’s Concertpiece No. 1 in F Minor, Opus 113 was originally composed for clarinet, basset horn, and piano and carried the whimsical title: The Battle of Prague, Grand Duet for Dumpling with Pastry and Cream, or Clarinet and Basset Horn, composed and most humbly dedicated to Bärmann senior and Bärmann junior by their very loyal servant Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The story behind this unique title is equally as charming as the title itself. The famous father-son clarinet duo, Heinrich and Carl Bärmann, agreed to reward their friend, Mendelssohn, with his favorite meal of dumplings with pastry and cream if he managed to compose a work for them by 5 o’clock that very day. Mendelssohn completed the composition by the designated hour, and no doubt was rewarded with a full stomach, as the clarinet repertoire was rewarded with a significant addition to its canon. It is now a pleasure to add this arrangement to the list of works for the double reed family. The world premier of this arrangement occurred at the 2015 IDRS conference in Tokyo, Japan, performed by Albie Micklich, Martin Schuring, and Midori Nagahara.

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Flute and Alto Saxophone

Composer Tyler Kline says, “Different Worlds is a dynamic, two-part work for flute and alto saxophone written for Morehead State University faculty duo Awea Duo. The piece is a reflection of a trip to China I was fortunate enough to take in the early summer of 2012. I had never been out of the United States, and visiting eastern Asia was quite a culture shock – definitely different from the world I’m used to. While there, I recorded street and temple sounds that directly influenced the melodic material of this work. From the slow and meditative first part to the aggressive and exciting second part, Different Worlds is a kaleidoscope of mood and style.”

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Troupin’s sound-world is dramatic and full of vitality. This entertaining duo is cast in 5 short movements: Assertion, Reflection, Eulogy, Fantasy, and Comedy. The colorful and contrasting sections combine in charming balance to make a memorable concert piece. Learn More

Flute and Clarinet/Bass Clarinet

This piece originated as a loose collaboration between a composer and a poet. Crescent Duo (Joanna Cowan White and Kennen White) are active and interested in both realms, and are always seeking new and exciting pieces for their duo, so this was their concept. My advantage as the composer in this assignment was two-fold: I play the instruments that the piece was to be written for and the poet-collaborator (Jeffrey Bean) had also spent time as a composer and instrumentalist, so his poetry is always echoing thoughts and feelings from the music realm.

It was not the musical inspirations that caught my attention in Bean’s verse, however; it was the voice and words he used when describing nature, growing things and the sense of place felt in the seasons of the American Midwest, a region in which we had both spent formative years. Specifically, the 18 short stanzas (micro-chapters, actually) of Encyclopedia of the Wheat captured my imagination. I liked the fact that these 1 to 7 line stanzas were individually numbered and presented such a diversity of moods and feelings—all revolving around the myths, psyche and experience of The Wheat.

The common thread of the parts of the poem that resonated the most seemed to be a sense of reverence and mystery for the depth and aliveness of this vast, botanical entity called “wheat.” A poem and some movements of music dedicated to its influence and importance on humanity is like a micro-celebration of the reality of it. It is precisely this awe and reverence for the living system that we inhabit—that we emerged from—that must, desperately now, be regained.

Dream of Wheat was funded by a Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors grant from Central Michigan University.

- Cornelius Boots

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Oboe and Bassoon

The Duo for oboe and bassoon was written in late 2015 for two of my former teachers, Dr. Stephanie Caulder and Dr. Jason Worzbyt, whose performances always inspired me as a young musician. This piece was premiered at the 2016 International Double Reed Society AnnualConference at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. The first movement is a fun exploration of the possibilities of the scalar collection E-F-G-A-Bb-D, where C/C# are used as color tones. In this collection E and Bb are used as central pitches, creating a pervasive unresolved feeling, even when combined with a more traditional tonal language.

The second movement is a sultry tango in Bb minor that utilizes the lyrical and expressive capabilities of both the oboe and the bassoon.

The third movement, Rondo funk, is an exploration in miniature form. As the title suggests, the movement is kind of like “a rondo in a funk” and is also heavily influenced by popular styles. The rondo form remains intact until the third statement of the 8-measure rondo theme, wherein this theme is continually interrupted by fragmented recapitulations of previous episodic material (clearly, a “rondo in a funk”). The movement ends with an exciting coda.

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Flute, Clarinet and Piano: The musical material in this colorful work moves gradually from the contemplative opening section to an intense and driving finish. The writing is fresh, and the music is full of vitality and vivid imagination. “A fabulous sonic journey.” - The Atlanta Constitution. Learn More

Player doubles on: Flute/Piccolo and Clarinet/Bass Clarinet

Forest Sounds was composed in 2013 as a commission for the Inspirare Duo, clarinetist Gail Zugger and flutist Lisa Jelle and premiered by them in October of that year. The piece is one movement, divided into four sections, each focusing on a concept of sound within a forest. The first section is bird calls, featuring the robin and cardinal. Section two introduces waterfowl with conversations between the sandpiper, mallard duck, and loon. Section three features the small critters: squirrel, chipmunk and rabbit scurrying about on the forest floor. The final section is a portrait of all the animals on a sunny summer day enjoying a multitude of simultaneous conversations. Tempo markings and alterations should be viewed as guides. The performers should feel free to allow the music to push and pull as they wish. Enjoy! Learn More

Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano

This arrangement of Four Pieces from “Eight Pieces, Op. 83” by Max Bruch started while I was working on my DMA degree at Michigan State University and performing as a member of the Trio Sonor, a clarinet, bassoon, and piano trio. Since repertoire for this particular combination is surprisingly limited, we arranged additional works that suited our trio.

Upon first hearing it, the phrase materials and harmonies of Bruch’s Op. 83 impressed us as strikingly beautiful and immediately accessible to audiences. Since Bruch composed two versions of Op. 83 – a version for clarinet, viola, and piano, and another version for violin, cello, and piano – I had more liberties with the technical considerations and musical aesthetics to arrange the bassoon part from both viola and cello scores. The range and lyrical style translated easily to the bassoon and beautifully exploited the register timbres of the instrument. Additionally, the majority of the technical writing in the parts for viola and cello lent itself well to the bassoon.

–Albie Micklich

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B-FLAT CLARINET (DOUBLING ON B-FLAT BASS CLARINET)

ALTO SAXOPHONE (DOUBLING ON SOPRANO SAXOPHONE AND BARITONE SAXOPHONE)

Hook, Line, and Sinker was influenced by my abiding interest in three distinct musical styles: contemporary classical, be-bop jazz, and punk rock. However, as my compositional research into these specific genres began to develop and expand, I wanted to take my personal work beyond an imitation of a critical musical study and past the final aural perception of the audience. In an attempt to convey to the performers the underlying extra-musical philosophy or "attitude" I desire in a given musical passage, I included the use of expressive analogues within the written score. Using the aforementioned musical styles, I instruct the trio to perform one passage "Antisocial, a la Sex Pistols," while in another section, I indicate that the music should sound like "a blend of Hendrix and Dolphy." In both cases, the overall "attitude" of the performance is just as important, or even more important, than the immeasurability of a perfect performance. In addition, I hope this use of expressive direction will introduce a few performers to unfamiliar musical territories, and possibly provide them with some insight into my personal influences and musical intentions. Notes by the composer, William Price (wpricecomposer@gmail.com)

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Clt and Bsn Learn More

In a Landscape, written for Duo Cylindre (Andrea Vos-Rochefort and Lizzy Darling) for their debut album ‘Movers, Makers, and Shakers,’ was completed in September of 2018. Motivic contours illustrate the brutal relationship between humanity with the oft-unforgiving, nevertheless beautiful, midwinter environment. Harmonic reliefs and colors, interwoven by both performers, evoke an array of opaque and indistinct scenes, culminating in the triumph of nature over, and subsequent lamentation, of humankind. Learn More

Flute, Bassoon and Piano

Composer Thomas Dempster says, “In differential calculus, an inflection point is a point on a curve at which the curvature changes sign – between positive and negative curvature. I construe the entirety of the piece as a somewhat long arc; the inflection point of the entire piece happens somewhere during the second movement. The first movement (‘Quirky Rays and Charming Segments’) takes the idea of a stationary point as a tonal center as more literally sees a line, or a curve, or pitches and motives passed around between the ensemble.This movement juggles a number of ideas and verily proffers some short-lived, rhythmically unstable and tonally ambiguous lines and arcs that return later on. The second movement (‘Distant Planes and Objects’) contains a fair amount of parallel motion, open and sparse figures, and static textures. Motion in pitch space extends outward in both directions from Ab and eventually returns, retracing the points. The final movement (‘Jiggly Dots and Origins’) is a mildly psychotic gigue that melds together the ideas of the previous two movements.”

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"Iridescence" for flute, clarinet, and piano by Randall Snyder musically depicts the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Learn More

Flute and Oboe Jitterbug at Midnight was composed as an original work for flute and oboe by composer Josh Oxford. This was written to provide a significant challenge for the ladies who premiered this piece. The motif B-E-C#-C#-A shows up frequently, which is the name of the flute player. It was originally called “Duo,” but when it was performed by Kelly and Chris Vaneman of Converse College, they renamed it “Jitterbug at Midnight.” Learn More

Koreana (2015) for flute, clarinet and piano by Randall Snyder is a suite of traditional Korean folk songs harmonized in various Western styles. The gentle T’aryong was originally a movement from the monumental Yongsan Hoesang, an orchestral suite first notated in the 15th century. It was later adapted as the graceful Dance of the Crane. Han o baeng nyon is a folk song from the eastern province of Kangwondo (now divided between North and South Korea). Its existential lyrics speak of the transience of existence; even five hundred years is not enough time to fully experience life. The bluesy melody is harmonized in the style of Ravel. Arirang is the most well known of Korean melodies and exist in several distinct versions. This one, from Kyonggi Province around Seoul, features a pentatonic melody in a setting influenced by Aaron Copland. Sarag Ga is love song from a P’ansori, the uniquely Korean opera-like form performed by just a vocalist and single drummer. Its essentially monophonic texture is embellished with Neo-Classic dissonances and rhythms suggestive of Stravinsky. Learn More

Bassoon and Bass Clarinet

“Little Suite is a short work for bassoon and bass clarinet that I wrote in 2013-2014 as a gift for my friends Shannon Lowe (bassoon) and Peter Geldrich (clarinet). The movements are written in three distinct musical styles: the first movement is inspired by clarinet lines in the opening section of Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments, and the second movement by the Passacaglia in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Symphony No. 3. The third movement is an original dance tune that I sometimes jokingly like to refer to as a 3/4 rhumba. The version for two bassoons came as an afterthought after I had performed the piece for the first time with a bass clarinetist. The two bassoon iteration not all that different from the original, but sounds remarkably different because of the same instrumental timbre. I have since wondered what the piece would sound like if the second part were played on a cello, or the first part (with some obvious octave transpositions) on a viola…”- Reed A. Hanna

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