I’m pleased to share some audio clips from my recent faculty recital at Delta State University.
It was the first evening concert of the new semester, so a nice crowd of students came to start accumulating their recital attendance points, as well as colleagues, friends, and community members. No one seemed daunted by the prospect of a solid hour of Debussy.
I enjoyed playing the flute Syrinx, clarinet Première Rapsodie, and saxophone Rapsodie, all of which I had studied in school but never performed publicly. The brief and charming clarinet Petite Pièce was new to me, and seemed to be a crowd favorite. I rounded out the recital with some of Debussy’s piano works, arranged for oboe and piano and for bassoon and piano. It works well for me to play all of the reed instruments on a recital, because that gives all my reed-playing students something to sink their teeth into, and the fabulous Dr. Shelley Collins was very gracious about me playing a flute piece on her turf. You can read my program notes here.
Having learned a couple of things from the last recital, I warmed up a little more extensively this time, and also brought in a space heater to keep my instruments warm backstage in the icy air conditioning. Both of these things seemed to help make the evening go more smoothly. One new experiment for me was the use of a bassoon harness, so I played that instrument standing up for the first time in public.
Here are the clips:
Or, here are some slightly more substantial clips:
Syrinx (flute)
Rapsodie (alto saxophone)
Petite Pièce (clarinet)
Reverie (oboe)
Menuet from Suite Bergamasque (oboe)
Jimbo’s Lullaby from Children’s Corner (bassoon)
Golliwogg’s Cakewalk from Children’s Corner (bassoon)
Première Rapsodie (clarinet)
How did you like the bassoon harness? I talked with Paul Hanson about it and he recommended a balance hanger over a harness.
Hi David, thanks for commenting.
For me the harness was definitely more awkward than a seat strap, and I found a crutch to be a necessity (when playing seated, I only use a crutch some of the time). At times my breathing felt a little restricted, though I didn’t cinch the harness tight. I had to be careful, too, about the corner of my suit coat interfering with keywork on the boot joint.
I haven’t given a balance hanger a thorough test drive, but I would like to.
What a great recital! Thanks for making the sound clips available online for those of us who couldn’t attend. Glad you played Syrinx—it’s always great for my students to hear other professional flutists!
Bravo!
Thanks, Shelley! I didn’t play it as well as you would have, but your students were polite and appreciative anyway.
Beautiful, Bret. I MUST get you out to Colorado for oboe reed lessons.
You flatter me, sir. The best thing I’ve done for my reeds recently is make the slope from tip to heart more gradual. It had gotten a little too steep and abrupt, and the reeds were too bright and buzzy.
What a great recital of doubling. Just amazing! I aspired to play all the woodwinds well and taught them all at one point, but never attempted a recital like this one.