Jeux no. 3 for bassoon and accordion

This composition is my third (and up to date, still the last) of "Jeuxes" I composed for wind instruments (1st for flute and piano, 2nd for clarinet and piano). When composing this one I finally "discovered" bassoon as an exciting instrument. The use of accordion instead of piano is because of the commission and I believe this combination sounds perfectly. The piece demonstates my preoccupation with contrasts between simplicity and complexitiy, tonality vs atonality, consonance vs dissonance. Therefore this Jeux is significantly different than its predacessors.

Although the piece was completed back in 2008 and received premiere perfomances in 2009 I did not have a proper recording to post here until I discovered the radio broadcast of this piece in autumn 2016, performed by ultra-talented bassonist Janez Pincolic with equally skilled accordeonist Nejc Grm. :)

I absolutely love the colors you're getting out of the accordion, especially with the high clusters at m. 122-124 and a couple of bars later. For a moment I thought I heard a theremin in there!

Wow, I couldn't agree more with Adrian! I didn't even know the accordion was capable of some of these colors. The contrast between the rich, warm sound I normally associate with the instrument and the colder, darker effects you achieve with it is really amazing to me. Sometimes it is almost like string accompaniment. The solo writing for the bassoon is tremendous too, and I bet it's fun to play for a skilled musician.

As a little aside, I believe there is an error in m. 272. The score has a half note Db, but on the recording the bassoonist plays the tritone multiphonic on E as in the following measure.

7 hours ago, fishyfry said:

 

As a little aside, I believe there is an error in m. 272. The score has a half note Db, but on the recording the bassoonist plays the tritone multiphonic on E as in the following measure.

 

Yes, indeed. I did not notice that. :)