Resource
Graded Chamber Music for Woodwind and Piano
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About
Graded by experienced teachers, the following list of works provides an
annotated guide when searching for repertoire, especially for the NZCT
Chamber Music Contest. Most of these works have score and audio samples
available online, just click on the title to see details. All are
available for purchase from SOUNZ. | ||
TITLE | DIFFICULTY LEVEL | COMMENTS |
| TRIOS | ||
| Hunt: A Dragon Named Blake for alto sax, tenor sax and piano | Intermediate | Funky, witty and quirky. Rhythmically straightforward but does require counting. Uses elementary extended techniques and guided improvisation, which includes placing bell of saxophone into the piano. Great for exploring sonorities and honing improvisation skills. |
| Hamilton: Carousel for alto sax, tenor sax and piano | Advanced | Effective and fun. Great rhythmic drive and stamina is required. The leaping piano part is harder than the woodwind writing. |
| Rimmer: Kokako Dreams for flute clarinet and piano | Intermediate | A cyclical work with five linked movements. Imaginative textural and descriptive writing, well-crafted and idiomatic. |
| Grenfell:Poems of a Bright Moon for flute clarinet and piano | Advanced | Fantastic piece. Three programmatic movements, all highly evocative, challenging and texturally driven. Woodwind parts weave around each other while the piano part spends much of the time above middle C, adding delicacy and/or brilliance. Highly recommended for students wanting a challenge. |
| Harris Shtiklekh (morsel) for flute, soprano sax and piano | Advance/Professional | Klezmer influence. Excellent writing for all instruments. Rhythmically complex and colourful. Ethereal folky, builds to rousing climax. Great crowd pleaser. |
| Wilby: Tri-Me-Trio for clarinet, flute and piano | Junior/Intermediate | Single movement. Well-suited to and popular with high school students. Manageable, straightforward ensemble: idiomatic, exciting and effective. Extended ostinato passages for piano; woodwind parts often double the melody. |
| Young: Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano | Intermediate (grade 7) | Four movements. Insightful writing for woodwind and beautifully conceived for the piano. (1) Prelude - free sharing of melody between all parts; (2) some rhythmic complexity; (3) Dreamy and languid; (4) spritely and mischievous. |
| Caskie: Under the African Sun for 2 flutes and piano | Junior/Intermediate | Incidental music to the play Passengers. Lyrical, languid, with modal touches. Opens with an extended dialogue between the flutes, builds to a central climax and away. Much scope for imaginative interpretation. Piano part is harmonically attractive, subtly changing and rich in melodic fragments. |
| Charles: Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Piano | Intermediate | Four movements, each offering a variety of textures. (1) a rhapsodic Largo followed by a lively Allegro characterised by rhythmic unisons; (2) a warm-textured and spacious Lento; (3) a perky scherzando masquerading as a delightful waltz which occasionally moves into high registers; (4) a Largo, conceived as a staggered accelerando moving through discrete sections is the hardest movement. Expressive, it builds to a strong climax. Flute moves into 4th register. |
| Biddington: Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Piano | Grade 5 | Enjoyable and accessible. The first two movements (an exuberant Vivace andexpressive Largo e Sostenuto) are rhythmically straightforward, light in texture and neoclassical in style. The 3rd movement (Vivo) is denser and more contrapuntal, requiring agility from the pianist, and tight ensemble from the woodwind. |