Bassoon and Orchestra

SKU: BT.MUSCH60944

Composed by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Classical. Score Only. Composed 1999. 84 pages. Chester Music #MUSCH60944. Published by Chester Music (BT.MUSCH60944).

ISBN 9780711936799.

Unusually for him, Davies starts his Bassoon Concerto not with slow music but with speed and brilliance: the opening is a Presto, initiated by the strings, and only at the entry of the soloist does the tempo relax to thatofa real introduction. Out of this grow a big dancing Allegro. The slow movement begins and ends with a simple song, around fantastical ornamentation from the soloist. The finale is again a recitative and dance, with a slow coda.Thewhole work is an immense show of stamina, poetry and athleticism for the bassoon, set against an orchestra coloured by low wind (alto flute, clarinet in A, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, horns).