Trio for Woodwinds (2023)

Three movements; 7 min. ca.; oboe, clarinet, bassoon; or flute, oboe, clarinet; or flute, oboe, bassoon.

The composer writes: At the age of 40, I wrote my Sinfonietta (1999). Its three movements are lively and rhythmically erratic, slow and introspective, and lively but rhythmically stable. It was not until many years later that I heard a good performance of my Sinfonietta – and I decided that I quite liked the structure of the piece. And my Trio for Woodwinds (2023) is, broadly speaking, modelled after my Sinfonietta.

The outer movements are highly chromatic, making extensive use of octatonic scales, while the contrasting middle movement is almost pandiatonic in its harmonic language.

Also, in choosing to compose for just three instruments, I created a problem for myself. The basic "building blocks" of my music are usually four-note chords – so how was I to write for a medium in which a four-note chord is impossible? I enjoyed the challenge!