Burrill Phillips’ Concert Piece. Terry B. Ewell provides performance and practice suggestions. Excerpts from the 1984 performance with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra are also provided. BDP #314, 2reed.net.
[music: Burrill Phillips' Concert Piece,
Terry B. Ewell,
bassoon, Vilem Sokol, conductor, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra]
There are some composers who are
quite well known to
bassoonists but relatively unknown to other musicians. I am thinking of
the English
composers Galliard and Jacob. Also, consider the great Germanic
pedagogues and
composers Weissenborn and Milde. They also illustrate this point.
Similarly, in
the USA, there are composers whose works are well beloved by
bassoonists but
often unknown by most other musicians. The Osborne Rhapsody
for solo bassoon
comes to mind. I already have three videos on that work. But now I give
you a
video on another work that is beloved by bassoonists. This is the Concert Piece
by Burrill Phillips. In this video I discuss the Concert Piece, which
is a work
that presents the vitality of American musical culture in the 1940s and
is also
quite approachable for young bassoonists.
Before I discuss the work, I need to mention the historic recording of the composition. Sol Schoenbach was the soloist accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy. The performance took place April 5-6, 1952 at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.
The recording was made to support the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Pension fund and each principal player was to choose a work by a USA composer to record. Only Schoenbach and flutist William Kincaid chose to do so; the rest recorded older music by European composers.
Please be aware that the piano
arrangement of this work is
quite difficult for the accompanist. If you perform the work with a
live
pianist, be sure find an excellent one! Scott Pool and I have created
versions
of the work for you to practice with. Here is a screen shot of a page
from the
Grade 5 collection of works. You can see that I provide MIDI and mp3
files here
in versions with string or piano accompaniment.
The work contains hints of 1930s jazz
with its rhythmic
vitality and accents. Make certain that the accents in the opening
bassoon part
are well projected. Here is an excerpt from my 1984 performance of the
work.
Restrictions from the television station do not allow me to present the
entire
work.
[music: Ewell with Seattle Youth
Symphony]
By the way, in addition to the jazz
rhythmic references, this
composition features several whole tone scales which give the
composition its
unique flavor.
Keep the staccato notes short. This
also provides character
to the work.
[music: Ewell with Seattle Youth
Symphony]
There is an error in the bassoon solo
part that needs to be
corrected. Five after rehearsal number 7 should be E3 not F3.
The composition is in ABA form. The A
sections of the work,
from the beginning to number 8 and from number 10 to the end need to be
performed with metrical and rhythmic precision. Practicing with the
metronome
or accompaniment with a click track will help you to stay with the beat.
The middle section, the B section,
however, should feature
some rubato. Be sure to also provide plenty of vibrato as well.
[music: Ewell with Seattle Youth
Symphony]
The most technically challenging part
of the work occurs in
the last three lines of the bassoon part after number 14. For the
written-out
turns starting on Eb4 I recommend these alternate fingerings for F4.
Notice
that the little finger key in
the left
hand is down for all those notesEb4, F4, and D4 in this turn.
[music: Ewell with Seattle Youth
Symphony]
The last run needs to be practiced
slowly and with multiple
rhythms. The “swing rhythm” long-short-long or
short-long-short will not
provide the necessary speed needed.
[example]
Instead, patterns of fours and six
are more helpful.
[example]
Now, when you practice these be sure
to relax your fingers
and also drive to the end of them with the air.
[example]
Segments of sprints are very useful
as well. Sprints are the
name I give to quick groupings of notes in which you play quickly,
faster than
the performance tempo.
[example]
Well, I hope that you enjoy this work
as much I as do. It
certainly is one of the treasures in the bassoon solo literature.
[music: Burrill Phillips
Concert Piece, Terry B. Ewell,
bassoon, Vilem Sokol, conductor, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra]