Elena Kats-Chernin

Four Light Bassoon Pieces

Composer's Notes:Green Leaf Prelude (February 2004)This is a transcription of one of the pieces from the Wild Swans ballet score. Wild Swans was commissioned by Australian Ballet choreographed by Meryl Tankard and premiered in the Sydney Opera House in May 2003. In this rather minimalist piece, the main character, princess Eliza, is looking through a hole in a green leaf and is imagining the worlds far away.The original version was written for soprano and orchestra.Melancholic Piece (January 2004)This piece does not quite want to decide if it is a tango or a waltz, it moves between both. It has some melancholic feel of the Russian old-fashioned Cafe music.Revolving Doors (January 2004)Originally written for piano solo, the idea came to me in New York in 2000, where I encountered more revolving doors than anywhere else in the world. It is a very short and modest piece. It was arranged for bassoon and piano for Lorelei Dowling.Slicked Back Tango (June 2002)This piece was originally written for a documentary about Barrie Kosky in 1996 and was scored for clarinet and string quartet (this version is still called Kosky Tango). I always felt quite warmly about this little piece and wrote a few duo versions of it, now titled Slicked Back Tango. This Tango has a slightly nostalgic Eastern European feel to it, I think.The version for bassoon and piano has been edited by Wendy Cooper.