In Conversation with the Canon

Friday, February 26th | 8pm

Watch the Livestream Here

"In Conversation with the Canon" pairs "standard" solo pieces for the bassoon with lesser-known works in the same genre. This recital invites dialogues between the music of Camille Saint-Saens and Edison Denisov, Francisco Mignone and Otto Oromszegi, and Henri Dutilleux and Roger Boutry. David will be joined by pianist Alexander Kostadinov

Program:

Saint-Saens - Sonata in G Major
Denisov - Sonata for Solo Bassoon

| Intermission |

Mignone - Valsa Improvisada
Oromszegi - Chractaristic Hungarian Pieces
- Bitterness
- May Festival

Dutilleux - Sarabande et Cortege
Boutry - Prisme

Recital Media

Here are some videos I’ve created as a part of my recital preparation process. While intended for fellow bassoonists, you may find them interesting as a window into the work that goes into creating a recital like this one.

I find pairs of slurred notes offset from the beat very difficult to play evenly at faster tempi. I find pairs of slurred notes on the beat relatively easy to play at faster tempi. So today I practiced the latter in order to engrain the correct rhythmic and articulation relationships in my fingers, hoping to make playing the former easier. All it took is mentally offsetting the music by one sixteenth.

Since it'll sound pretty unfamiliar to most folks, I thought I'd post this preview of the Mvt III from Denisov's Sonata for solo bassoon. This is actually one of my favorite moments of the piece, as Denisov leaves so much space for silence, or... my toddler shouting.