Jaźwinski, Barbara (1950- )
Dreams of Vagabond Winds (11:19) 2021, Publisher: American Composers Edition
Instrumentation: oboe, clarinet, bassoon
In composer’s own words:
Dreams of Vagabond Winds was composed in 2021 for the Sonora Winds ensemble. The work is highly virtuosic, exploring idiomatic, coloristic and textural characteristics of the oboe, the clarinet, and the bassoon in different registers and dynamic levels. It also attempts to create a sonic environment that bridges experiences from the composer’s own musical heritage that spans different continents and different powerful artistic traditions.
The work was originally inspired by unprecedented complexities and constantly changing and unpredictable dynamics of contemporary reality. Today, it also expresses gratitude to all who in these turbulent times find a way to be there for those who need them.
The work was premiered by Sonora Winds at the 2021 International Double Reed Society Conference. The composition is through composed, highly atonal, and presents contemporary jazz influences. It opens with a clarinet solo, joined by the other two instruments as if in conversation. Throughout the whole composition, each instrument is treated as a soloist with the bassoon also having the role of a rhythmical ostinato base. Each instrumental part presents highly complicated rhythms and chromatic interconnected runs. These complicated lines and shifts of meter make this piece very difficult to play. The many changes in colors, textures and impressions are established by the use of the following devises: trills in single or multiple instruments, florid melodic lines, and rhythmical ostinatos.
Advanced technique, range, and dynamic flexibility are required from all instrumentalists. Good attention to balance and rhythmical accuracy is important, especially at times when melodic lines meander between the voices.
Grade: V-VI
Recordings: https://youtu.be/oujIojOEN-I
Sheet music source: https://composers.com/composers/barbara-jazwinski