Woodwind Quartet

Instrumentation:  Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon
Duration:                  10 minutes
Year:                            2010

Audio Excerpt (In Elation)

UBC Contemporary Players

Program Notes:

Woodwind Quartet is my first composition for solely winds, and is in two movements, Variations on a Confession (1) and In Elation (2).

          Variations on a Confession  was inspired by the choral practices in the church, as the winds move homophonically with each other in 7ths, which led me to think about the liturgical practice of confession in the Catholic Church.  The confession is offered by all four players in uniosn, and then is gradually varied upon and broken down.  A dissonant and climatic section ensues, as the confessors, now in self defense and denial, break into heated arguments signified by the clashing 4 part polyphony near the middle of the work.   It lapses steadily back into the confession motif, as the players find reconciliation, forgiveness, and ultimately repent.

          In Elation is a suiting companion to the darker and clashing confessions.  It is the ecstatic and vivacious call to celebration, and shows the woodwinds at their best.

Performance History:

– Jan 21st, 2011, UBC Contemporary Players @ Roy Barnett Recital Hall, UBC Vancouver, BC.