Common Ground (score & parts) - BSN/CEL

Common Ground
for bassoon and cello
by Gernot Wolfgang (b. 1957) - Austrian composer

Common Ground was composed in 2005 and seeks to establish just that- a common ground between the traditional approach to writing for this instrument and the groove-oriented world of jazz and funk. Dedicated to Judith Farmer and Armen Ksajikian. The piece is in three movements:
I. Blues Upside Down
This movement got its name from its very first motif, a blues phrase which turns itself around at midway point. Generally up-tempo, the movement is centered by a slow midsection. 
II. Trading Places
A slow and lyrical movement, which lets the two instruments reverse their roles during its course. The material presented by one instrument at the beginning of the movement is later reprised by the other. 
III. Igor, At Last
This movement is a short energetic funk piece, which incorporates musical ideas from both the first and second movements. One of the passages reminds me in a way of a composition by Igor Stravinsky: Concerto in D, hence the name of the movement.

-Gernot Wolfgang