Concertino bucolico for clarinet, bassoon, harp and strings

(2010) 20'

Commissioned by Philadelphia Classical Symphony

Program note

Concertino bucolico was commissioned by The Philadelphia Classical Symphony, Karl Middleman director, for a concert featuring clarinetist Ricardo Morales and bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa that occurred on October 23, 2011 with the composer conducting. The work took its instrumentation from R. Strauss’ Duo–Concertino which appeared on the same program. The eighteen-minute work is composed of five sections (played without pause) that trace the passage of time from morning to evening, in a symmetrical, loosely palindromic structure that is also symbolic of the life cycle. The pastoral surrounding at Bogliasco no doubt had an effect on the composition of the work as did my experience over time of hearing the outstanding performance of Morales and Matsukawa. In particular, the story of shepherds piping to one another from the hilltops in the area was an inspiration for the work’s ending.

The first complete draft of the work was composed at the Liguria Center for the Arts and Humanities in Bogliasco, Italy during February 2010 and then fully completed during the following year. The composer is deeply grateful to the Foundation for its most generous support of the project.

live performance