[music: Chamber Version, second mov.,
John Weigand, Terry Ewell,
and Eva Mengelkoch]
Terry B. Ewell: So, Jonathan I
remember that three years ago
or something you knocked on my door in the office and said,
“Terry, Terry I am
going to write this double concerto for clarinet and bassoon. And you
were a
little bit fearful of writing for bassoon.
Jonathan Leshnoff: Indeed, very much
so. The bassoon really
doesn’t get that much light of day in the orchestra. It is
always doubling with
the cellos. There are some good passages, but it never has a whole
movement to
itself, or two movements. So, I wanted to write something that is
effective and
uses the instrument effectively and in its best way. But I needed some
advice
and so I came to you and said, “Terry.” It is not
the first time I have come to
you for some help. I knocked on your door and I said, “How do
I do this?”
TBE: I remember at that time I was
going through some of my
old files, pulling out some things from when I was at West Virginia
University.
I said, “Oh, I have just the sheet for you.” They
had me lecture in an
orchestration class. So, we just went through that lecture: these are
the
bassoon ranges, this is some of the literature, and I know that you
looked at
some of that.
JL: I certainly did. After you showed
me things on the bassoon
and maybe you illustrated… Here is that sheet that Terry
gave me. It is right
to the point. You obviously went through the ranges. You broke down the
ranges
very specifically and told me what the bassoon could do very exactly.
Even more
so, you have the repertoire examples. I went that looked at these
repertoire
examples. The lyrical use of the instrument… you have the
Stravinsky Firebird
Suite. I went and I studied that, and I said, “Wow, that is
quite an amazing
range of the instrument. It works so well if I have this orchestral or
that
orchestral color.” So, the beginning of the Concerto,
which starts with
the bassoon and strings in the orchestral version, comes right from
your
suggestion.
TBE: Wonderful.
JL: From Stravinsky, a big
inspiration.
[music: Opening of the Double
Concerto, Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra, Reference Recordings FR-738.]
JL: Here it says right
here—comic use of the instrument.
TBE: That is the second movement.
JL: So, right there, it is your
fault.
TBE: I love that movement.
JL: The thing is that I always knew
that the bassoon could
have a comical element. But it was kind of like [embarrassing,
snickering gesture]..But
when a bassoonist comes and says that the bassoon can be comical, then
that is
it. I am going to have fun!
[music: Chamber Version, second mov.,
John Weigand, Terry Ewell,
and Eva Mengelkoch]
JL: What I like so much is the
adjectives about the sound
quality. The adjectives about the range. The lower range is rich, full,
tubby.
The lyric, sonorous tenor. Then you mention a thinner sound for the top
register.
But what distinctly really moved me was in between that thinner sound
and the
sonorous is a really sweet spot in the bassoon between G[3]-G[4] and
A[4]. With
tremendous carrying power, with tremendous lyricism [Music: Ewell and
Mengelkoch] and enough power to really cut through the orchestra but
still feel
like it is natural. So, it is not forcing, it just comes out and there
it is.
TBE: More like the upper tenor range,
similar to that. The
bassoon seems to have that.
JL: Right, as soon as you get to A[4]
in my opinion, it gets
a little intense.
JL: When I write concerti, I very
much like to look at etude
books. The etude books typically show the limits of what the instrument
can do,
what they have to work at, what it typical. I looked at the
Weissenborn. I
thought, “Oh my, that bassoon can really go and go and
go.” In the orchestra,
when you are looking at the orchestral bassoon, it’s here, it
stops, it doubles
the cello, it stops. I didn’t see this continual motion so
much. So, from those
etudes and look at some of your digital professor for bassoon, I could
really
push that. There is a lot of that in the third movement.
TBE: I know that the other work you
examined was the Otmar
Nussio Variations on a Theme by Pergolesi.
JL: Yes, that is a score that you
showed me at that meeting.
I looked at it and studied it. I saw Nussio do really extreme, wild,
crazy, and
fun things. I said, “Wow, the bassoon can be a lot of
fun.” He really explores
a whole range of colors and textures. The orchestral part or piano part
is very
“notey.” I loved how the interaction of all of
these notes and bassoon came
out. You can see that happen in the third movement. That was a source
of inspiration,
the orchestra and these big chords combining with the bassoon and
coming right
through.
[music: Chamber Version, third mov.,
John Weigand, Terry Ewell,
and Eva Mengelkoch]
TBE: Where there any things that were
surprising when you
heard the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra actually play the piece? You
said, “Wow,
this surprised me!”
JL: I realized that I could have been
a little bit more
front with the orchestra. Meaning that the clarinet and the bassoon had
more
carrying power than I thought. I was very delicate with a lot of the
orchestration. But I realize now that I could have been just a little
bit more,
put the orchestra up just a bit. But it is always safe to stay on the
soft
side.
TBE: Right, I notice that you start
the third movement with
these sonorous brass chords and then it fades out from there. [music:
Start of the
third movement of the Double Concerto, Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra,
Reference Recordings FR-738.] If you had kept those chords, you may not
have
heard those instruments.
JL: Right, I also was surprised that
the strings and the
bassoon and clarinet together molded so well at the end of the first
movement. The
strings pan out into a very big chord as the clarinet and bassoon trail
off. [music:
End of the first movement of the Double Concerto,
Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra, Reference Recordings FR-738.] I liked how all of the
overtones mixed
together with the bassoon and clarinet right in the middle of that. It
was a
lot of fun.
JL: Another orchestral surprise was
my gaggle of bassoons in
the second movement. In the return of the A theme I took a cue from
Bartok.
JL and TBE: Concerto for Orchestra
JL: Yes, in the second movement.
There is a trio for
bassoons, and I always found that so cool. He does it masterfully. How
many
times in my life do I have three bassoons at my disposal? [music:
Chamber Version,
second mov., John Weigand, Terry Ewell, and Eva Mengelkoch]
In the piano version, I made Eva work
very hard to get all
of the voices, it is tricky. But in the orchestral version it is such a
fun
spot.
TBE: It is a wonderful moment. I
remember it well.
JL: One other color in the third
movement that I want to
point out. I love the times where you and John, the clarinet and
bassoon are
trading off real fast. [music:
third
movement of the Double Concerto, Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra,
Reference Recordings FR-738.] What surprised me in the orchestra is the
pizzicato,
the sharp attack, and punctuate. That was really cool because when I
was
writing it, I heard the strings give a point there. But I
didn’t realize in
real life how much it helps to have that attack from the strings with
the
combined sharp attack from the bassoon and the clarinet.
[music: Chamber Version, third mov.,
John Weigand, Terry Ewell,
and Eva Mengelkoch]
TBE: You wrote two very challenging
parts for the bassoon
and clarinet, but I understand that a youth orchestra has actually
played the
orchestral part. So, it is quite approachable as a piece.
JL: Yes.
TBE: And we hope that it will be
played many, many more
times for that reason.
JL: I am so appreciative to you, and
Eva, and John for giving
this world premiere. It is so exciting that during COVID you have made
a
premiere that will be able to be seen on demand anytime, anywhere.
TBE: We just appreciate this chamber
version. Thank you,
Jonathan.
JL: Thank you so much, Terry.
[music: Chamber Version, second mov.,
John Weigand, Terry Ewell,
and Eva Mengelkoch]