Woodlands Variations (2018)
(for bassoon and string quartet)

Woodland Variations is deeply rooted in the solo Bassoon piece Woodland” I composed for Bram van Sambeek in 2012. When I was asked to compose a new Quintet for bassoon and string quartet by the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, I found myself not being able to leave the material from the solo piece behind. Instead I returned to it and found new perspectives to the material and forms of development.

The piece starts with an expressive and energetic musical statement by the bassoon, but it quickly leads to the first variation where the musical environment gradually starts to develop and transform.

The work consists of seven variations and a coda. In the beginning the variations follow each other attacca but before variation three the musical flow pauses. A static sound world emerges where the solo melody of the bassoon floats above a silent string background. Gradually the string sound gets more and more distanced from ordinary playing while at the same time the harmony moves towards more and more tonal surroundings.

After the slow section, a faster and more rhythmical and energetic musical idiom returns in variation four. Variations four to seven follow each other without any breaks and gradually the musical events move back towards the original statement made by the bassoon in the beginning of the piece.

Sebastian Fagerlund