Bachalicious (2015) - SOLO BSN

Bachalicious

for solo bassoon

by Ryan Hare, American composer and bassoonist

From the composer:

Bachalicious for solo bassoon is an adaptation of the Fugue in D Major, BWV 850 from JS Bach's "The Well-Tempered Klavier", Book 1. My inspiration to create this came from hearing Luis de Pablo's Solo-Kunst, which is a virtuoso adaptation for solo clarinet of two of the four-voice fugues from Bach's "The Art of the Fugue" BWV 1080. However, the technique I used to transform the original four-voice fugue into a piece for a solo single-line instrument i rather different from what was done by Luis de Pablo. The idea of transforming someone else's music into a new version for a different instrument was common in Bach's day; famous examples include Bach's own transcription of concerti by Antonio Vivaldi for solo organ and solo harpsichord. 

Daniel Lipori, bassoonist and professor of bassoon and music history at Central Washington University, is a good friend, and has been a strong supporter of my music for bassoon. This adaptation is dedicated to him. 

Performance note: single grace notes, and groups of grace notes with sixteenth note beaming, are intended to be performed before the beat, and as fast as possible. Groups of grace notes with eighth note beaming should be played on the beat, more slowly and lyrically.