When I first became acquainted with the repertoire that Dark in the Song has commissioned for 5 bassoons, I was very impressed with the technical and expressive capability of both the musicians of this group and the ensemble of 5 bassoons. It quickly became a goal of mine to give Dark in the Song a piece that they could really dig into - both in terms of breadth of emotion and technique and depth of expression. The idea came to mind of casting the work as almost a classical string quartet, but with the unique timbral world of 5 bassoons.The opening movement, Kiss of the Earth, is an homage to what is possibly the most famous moment in the bassoon's history - the opening of Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps in which a solo bassoon plays what at the time, was probably the highest note the bassoon had ever been asked to play, and then falls down spinning out a beautiful folksy melody. I based the opening on this basic idea, amplifying it, stretching it out, and drawing from it the material for the entire movement. The 2nd movement is reminiscent of a classical minuet and trio with an added polyrhythmic verve, a jazzy tunefulness, and colorful chromatic harmonies. It is as if a simple old beautiful piece were twisted, turned, pushed, and pulled. The 3rd and final movement is the piece's lyrical release. It is a heartfelt farewell song; a meditation on transience. I chose to keep this work 3 movements as opposed to the 4 movement form of the classical string quartet, to capture this transience by creating an open ended dramatic arc, as opposed to the more traditional form with a triumphant conclusion.
