Gustav Schreck: Bassoon Sonata, Op. 9 (1887)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- 00:00 - I. Allegro ma non troppo
05:30 - II. Largo
09:47 - III. Allegro
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Bassoon: Meyrick Alexander
Piano: Catherine Milledge
Year of Recording: 2010
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"Schreck's Sonata for Bassoon and Piano op. 9 is in three movements with the melody given equally to both instruments. The piano part, however, is quite thick at times, which may require the bassoonist to play slightly louder than the marked dynamics. There are many opportunities to use rubato throughout the work. It is not known for whom Schreck composed this work. However, a very prominent bassoonist in Leipzig up until 1888, was Julius Weissenborn (1837-88), so perhaps it was written with him in mind.
The first movement is marked "Allegro ma non troppo" and is in a sonata-allegro form, beginning in the key of Eb Major. The transition begins in measure 15, which leads to the second theme at measure 32 in the key of Bb Major. The closing theme begins in measure 43 in Bb Major, which ends the exposition at measure 64. All of the melodic material in this movement is slurred and is mostly scales and arpeggios. The development begins in measure 65 and goes through several key areas before the recapitulation occurs at measure 109, back in the home key of Eb Major. The transition is eliminated in the recapitulation, so the second theme immediately follows the principal theme, beginning in measure 117 in Eb Major. The closing theme begins in measure 127 and there is a short coda to finish out the movement in measure 143.
The difficulties in this movement lie in getting all the slurs to be smooth, and balancing with the heavy piano part. Some of the slurs are quite large and may require a flick or alternate fingering to produce the slur effectively. For example, in the first measure of the movement, there is a slur from g to eb1, which may require either flicking the c# key or lifting the first finger in the right hand for the eb to speak. The range of this movement is not terribly large, only going up to an ab1 a few times.
The second movement is marked "Largo" and is in an ABA form. This movement in particular, has a lot of vocal qualities, almost in imitation of an opera aria. The movement presents the first theme in the key of Ab Major with the piano accompaniment being much thinner in this section. The 'B' section of the movement begins in measure 17 and has a thicker and more agitated piano line. There is a short cadenza, beginning in measure 29, which leads to the return of the 'A' theme in measure 33. Another short cadenza at the end of measure 44, leads to a coda in the next measure, which ends the movement.
The difficulties in the second movement are very similar to those in the first, as most of the passages are slurred and have some larger intervals within these slurs. The range of this movement is a bit wider, going up to db2 in the second cadenza.
The final movement is marked 'Allegro' and is also in a sonata-allegro form, beginning in the key of Eb Major. After a four bar introduction, the principal theme is presented in measure 5, with the transition beginning in measure 13, leading to the second theme, which begins in measure 38 in the key of Bb Major. The closing material begins in measure 50 and the development begins in measure 64. The principal theme does not return in the recapitulation so the development ends at the return of the second theme in measure 105, back in the tonic key of Eb Major. The closing material begins in measure 117, leading to a short cadenza in measure 140. A slightly faster coda begins in measure 145, which brings the work to a resounding close.
Since the tempo in the final movement is a bit faster than the first, there are a few more technical demands in this movement. There are several 16th note passages throughout, some repeating just a few notes in close succession. For example, at the beginning of the development in measure 64, there are 16th notes going up and down between d1, eb1, and f1, which may require an alternate f1 fingering to produce this passage smoothly. A common alternate for the f1 in a passage such as this, is to play the eb1 key normally, then lift off all the fingers in the left hand to produce the fl. Again there are some balance issues with the piano, which may require louder playing by the bassoonist. The piano part is fairly difficult, so you will need a competent player to perform this work, but it certainly is an enjoyable and satisfying work to play for both the bassoonist and pianist." (Daniel Lipori)
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Great music from the swamp
Me when I chose this piece to play for my jury: "lol Shrek"
Me practicing: "This is the most beautiful music I've ever played in my life I can't believe this is real".
My professors at my jury: "lol Shrek"
Lol music school really do be like that huh 😂
😂
the chord progression is wonderful
Fantastic ! Well played.
I love the music!
I love the first movement 😊
nice contrapuntal lines and quite refined harmonization
00:06 first movement
Shrek
lol shrek
It's difficult to rag on a bassoon work as there isn't a huge amount of repertoire for the instrument, but this is not a great piece of music 👎🏼👎🏼
Maybe not great. But it's pretty good. Certainly wouldn't be my last pick for bassoon piece to perform, or to listen to. I think Bourdeau's solos are better for sure.
@@josephcowan6779 Bordeau's solos are miles ahead of this.
Sad to say, I agree. I'm an ex-bassoonist and professional pianist, and although there is some nice stuff in there, the ideas just aren't great, and the form is lumpy. He builds a big climax and then just peters it out to the double bar with no real sense of musical drama. I'm playing this piece soon, and have enjoyed working on it, but would prefer either of the Webers!
I have found that it can sometimes be nice to have small "cute" pieces that are easy to play and easy to listen to.
This piece is amazing in that regard: no long phrases to kill your embochure with plenty of rest, no technical difficulties at all (at least not in the first and second movement. I haven't gotten further) nice harmonies and cute melodies. Not good music, but practical music.
Edit: the third movement is sight readable as well.
This is more of a piano sonata with some bassoon thrown in. For sure the pianist should get top billing.