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maecenas music - wind bands and ensembles

Baren (Bears)for Bassoon Quartet

McAlister, Clark

Composer's Note

"Baren was written for my friend Henry Skolnick (still the finest Contrabassoon player I have ever heard) and the Berlin Bassoon Quartet. Whilst I believe that a piece needs to be able to stand on it's own without any descriptive assistance, there are in this piece two pictorial moments that in fairness to the music can be pointed out. The first is a gesture that opens the piece and is developed at some length - the image is that of a bear 'going up' on its hind legs, a very characteristic thing for a bear to do. The other is a depiction of bears asleep, complete with light snoring.

I know better than to think of bears as harmless and cuddly little things, but I've never thought of them as ferocious or threatening either.  In my experience they are delightful creatures who mostly want to be allowed to 'do their own thing,' although Doug Seus and his bears (Bart and Little Bart particularly) have shown me just how friendly, in their own way, they can be."

Duration: c. 6.00 minutes

MW0789

Set and Score

£17.50
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