Songs of Late Season - CD

Over the past several years, I've become interested in stepping away from the common recital-with-piano-accompaniment format and have been exploring more unusual sounds and colors. For instance, I played a recital of music for bassoon and percussion, and I'm interested in the idea of bassoon and organ, or guitar, or harp. I chose harp for this album since I have the pleasure of working with one of the finest harpists in the world every week, Emily Levin. In researching repertoire, I found more music written for bassoon and harp than I expected. Unfortunately, most of the music written for this combination is not always the peak of musical quality. What I did find, however, was the great music composed for bassoon and harp was mostly written by French composers. The Andres and Jolivet were absolute musts since they were written for the instruments and are both fantastic pieces. With the Jolivet involving a flute, I went right to my friend and colleague, David Buck, who was more than happy to join us. A fan of vocal music, I had to include something on the album written for the voice, have it be French, and also be topical. I have always adored the Bizet and Delibes duets and knew we could easily arrange them for two bassoons and harp. Another friend and colleague, Tom Fleming, joins us for those. I first heard the Charpentier sung by Maria Callas and I immediately fell in love with it's lushness. There are two charming short pieces that really fit in beautifully; the Sauguet and Tournier. Though the Tournier was originally written for cello, it works perfectly on the bassoon. The Sauguet was written for the bassoon and it showcases the instrument's expressiveness. To close the album I chose one of my favorite things written by Gabriel Faure. "In paradisum" is the final movement of his Requiem.