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Bassoon Variations

Instrumentation
Bsn,Hp,T(3 scores needed for performance)
Year
1972
Duration
11:00
Composed
11/23/1971 - 2/1/1972
Commission
Paul Hindel

“Dedicated to Leonard Hindell, the remarkably seductive Bassoon Variations of 1971-2, “accompanied” (Wuorinen’s term) by harp and timpani, are based on a 12-tone plan. With bassoon in the foreground stating melodic developments, harp and timpani provide coloristic depths to the principal’s lyrical, often elegiac part. Bassoon Variations ends in a display of reversals of early-on materials, the final passage devolving to a wholly transparent epigram on the music’s spirit and intentions.”

-From a program note to the CD recording of the Bassoon Variations on New World CD 80517, written by Mike Silverton

Recordings