The Aquatic Uncle - OB/BSN/PN

The Origin of Birds
for oboe, bassoon, and piano 
by Brian Krinke - American composer

Based on the story by Italo Calvino.

This is the printed edition.  For the PDF download, click HERE.

ABOUT THE MUSIC

Cosmicomics Trilogy

Italo Calvino was one of Italy’s great authors. I have always been drawn to his whimsical, colorful writing. For these musical works, I was inspired by his collection of stories, Cosmicomics. His stories follow characters through times of major change in the universe. I will provide a few thoughts about each story, with encouragement to explore Calvino’s amazing work! 

The three musical works of the Cosmicomics Trilogy were written for the 2024 IDRS International Conference in Flagstaff, AZ, and premiered by the composer at the piano, with Dr. William Aikens, oboe, and Dr. Jeffrey McCray, bassoon. 

For THE DINOSAURS - click HERE.

For THE ORIGIN of BIRDS - click HERE.

For THE AQUATIC UNCLE - click HERE.

The Aquatic Uncle - This story has three main characters, so I thought it would work perfectly for trio. The bassoon portrays our narrator, Qfwfq, whose family has recently evolved to become land creatures, but their backwards uncle, N’ba N’ga (represented by the piano,) chooses to remain a fish, despite his relatives’ best efforts to convince him that life on land is better. The oboe represents the beautiful, agile land creature Lla, who Qfwfq becomes smitten with. A very strange inter-species love triangle ensues, leaning Qfwfq alone at the end of our story.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

BRIAN KRINKE has written solo and chamber works for winds, piano, and strings. His compositions have been performed in venues in New York City, including Merkin Hall and St. Paul’s Chapel, as well as universities such as Princeton University and Colorado Mesa University. He has several times been invited to perform concerts of his compositions for the  International Double Reed Society conferences, both in the U.S and in Thailand. His works have been performed by principal wind players of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. Mr. Krinke studied composition at the University of Minnesota with Paul Fetler, and presently serves on the music faculty at Colorado Mesa University.