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Work
Add to wishlist- for contrabassoon and orchestra
- By:
- Duration:
- 12' 00"
- Instrumentation:
- 1*1(1)1(1), solo contrabassoon; 2211; perc. (1), timp., hp; strings 8.8.6.6.5 (Percussion: marimba, splash cymbal, suspended cymbal, clash cymbal, 2 Chinese gongs, tam-tam, snare drum, 4 tom-toms.) N.B. percussion, timp., hp, tpts required to each use a "pea whistle" of various types.
Samples
 | Score (249k) | Pages 1, 11-14 and 49-51 | © Michael Norris |
Availability
- This work has 2 scores, 1 Media on Demand, a recording and a resource
Programme Note
The contrabassoon, undoubtedly one of the most strange and wonderful of all modern-day orchestral instruments, is thrust into the limelight in this work—an opportunity it grabs with both hands.
After the opening motoric passage in the strings, the contrabassoon comes flying down the entrance ramp with horn blaring, thereafter engaging in a constant battle for supremacy with the aggressive manoeuvres of the orchestra. In the final chaotic section, for instance, it has to endure the strings’ lane-changing (without indicating), the woodwinds’ tailgating, and the tuba’s road rage while struggling to chart its own course through the orchestra’s clogged highways.
Although the way is often blocked by intimidating forces threatening to run it off the road, the contrabassoonist’s command of the lowest orchestral register ensures that, in the end, he will be the one sitting in the driver’s seat.
– Michael Norris, 2006
- Commissioned:
- Commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
- Difficulty:
- Advanced
- Influences:
- Dedication:
- to Hamish McKeich
Performance History
 |
01 Jun 2006 |
Performed by Hamish McKeich (contrabassoon); New Zealand Symphony Orchestra cond. James Judd; Town Hall, Dunedin |
| Hamish McKeich New Zealand Symphony Orchestra | ||
| 21 May 2006 |
Performed by the NZSO, conductor James Judd, with Hamish McKeich (solo contrabassoon) |
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| 19 Apr 2012 |
Performed at the “New Zealand in LA” Festival at REDCAT, Los Angeles, USA. |
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