DESCRIPTION:
Richard Wilson’s BASSOON CONCERTO was composed in 1983 and premiered on January 28, 1984 by Robert Wagner with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Imre Pallo conducting. Mr. Wagner then performed it in Graz, Austria with the AIMS Symphony Orchestra, Cornelius Eberhard conducting. This recording is with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Leon Botstein conducting.

About the work the composer has written:

Dr. Johnson on the idea of a bassoon concerto (spurious): "Like a dog's walking on his hind legs it is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." My reaction when asked to write such a piece was of skepticism. I worried that the bassoon, famous for its ability to blend--to become a horn, clarinet, oboe or whatever to fill out an instrumental choir--would fail to project, would fade into the wallpaper, would become the antihero in a traditionally heroic genre. Beyond this chameleonic tendency, the acoustical complexity of the instrument gives rise to fingering patterns that often impede fluency and inhibit virtuosic display.
Then there is the image problem. Operatic composers since Mozart have labelled the bassoon a buffoon and linked it to preposterous characters and situations on stage.
But it is an instrument that I have always loved. It renders rhythms with particular crispness and clarity. Its plaintive, primordial voice speaks and sings of the precariousness of the human condition. I could not resist the chance to help it reach out to a larger audience.
My concerto exhibits three joined movements that are framed by music acting as prelude and postlude. The first two movements are rather fast and possess at least some characteristics of waltz and toccata, respectively. The concluding slow movement is of a lyrical nature.
Throughout, the bassoon displays a capacity for friendship. Its principal dialogues take place with the English Horn, French Horn, Solo Cello, Bass Clarinet and Contrabassoon. It is most at home among the harp and marimba. It is most threatened by the trumpets and trombone. In the end, of course, it easily withstands their onslaughts to have, so to speak, the last word.

Published by Peermusic Classical