Three Short Stories for Viola (Clarinet) and Bassoon

Three Short Stories – like my other concert music pieces – combines musical elements from the world of jazz with compositional techniques found in classical and 20th century concert music. The piece was originally written for viola and bassoon, but it also exists in arrangements for Bb-clarinet and bassoon, as well as for viola and violoncello. Although the title – Three Short Stories – suggests programmatic content, the “stories” are mostly musical ones. The first movement – “Uncle Bebop” – is an uptempo romp which starts in octave unisons, developing from there into more counterpoint-oriented fast passages.   “Rays of Light” is lyrical in character, and is more a composition for two soloists than a duet. The two instruments shape the piece trading solo passages, with a few connecting measures in between in which they interact. Only in the last couple of measures do the two parts unite to create a true ensemble sound. The title of the third movement – “Latin Dance” – gives away its character. This again is a fast, lively piece of music, which explores rhythms found in Latin American music while using a slightly dissonant melodic and harmonic language. Gernot Wolfgang

„Gernot Wolfgang’s ‘Three Short Stories’ for clarinet and bassoon brings in the most amazing bassoon playing I have heard in a long time – superb tone and articulation with a very attractive use of vibrato. Judith Farmer is the bassoonist involved in this suite, with the first movement entitled ‘Uncle Bepop’ demanding that phenomenal articulation. Whilst the second movement ‘Rays of Light’ is more lyrical there is no let-up in the final ‘Latin Dance’ – brilliant!” Kenneth Morris, “Clarinet & Saxophone Magazine”, Spring 2014 Vol. 39/1   "...engaging and toe-tapping" (THE CLARINET, June 2014)   "...Wolfgang's engaging and inventive Duo Three Short Stories... the inviting and strongly jazz-tinged score..." (Santa Barbara Independent)   “My favorite section is Gernot Wolfgang's 3 Short Stories for Clarinet & Bassoon, a marvelous neoclassical procession as adventurous as a Miro painting, Gray double-tracking with bassoon (Judith Farmer) in low and high registers, offsetting each others' work in constantly switching lead voices. (…)  The recording is audiophile; the arrangements very warm while retaining a good deal of a cool, sometimes almost icy, clarity; and the performances are above top shelf.” Mark S. Tucker, ACOUSTIC MUSIC.com     “This major work for viola and bassoon in roughly 10 minutes presents sensuous melodic lines and sumptuous harmonies that are not traditionally tonal but easily accessible. The haunting feeling of this piece shows a strong jazz influence in its effective cross-rhythms and intricate counterpoint. The form is at once clear, concise and emotionally powerful.” (The Inner Voice)   “Wow! Composer Gernot Wolfgang has written another 'keeper' of a work here for the unlikely combination of viola and bassoon! ... As is the case with his other chamber works, his compositional style draws heavily on the elements of jazz and widely expanded traditional harmony... The three movements follow the traditional fast-slow-fast format and forms for the most part, but as with his other works, are immediately captivating for their expressiveness and excellent, interesting musical ideas that draw the listener right in... I cannot recommend this work strongly enough to you – a true 'keeper'." (The Double Reed)   Three Short Stories was written significantly earlier than the other works on the disc; this time the bassoon takes up with the viola. The first Story is a twitchy frolic entitled 'Uncle Bebop' which is naturally rather jazzy, though not in a superficial way. 'Rays of Light' is slower and more plaintive - overcast rather than sunny - and there is little duetting as such. The final Story is called 'Latin Dance', which it technically is, though through the medium of bassoon and viola it tries hard not to be - without loss of interest. There is a humorous fake ending to the work. (musicweb-international, May 2011)   Rezension der CD "Short Stories" The seven engaging works on the CD “short stories” come from the brain of a composer who is a stylistic chameleon. Although there are many nods to jazz, folk and Latin music, the influences come across as partners to Wolfgang’s creative individuality. Rhythmic buoyancy is one element in the composer’s winning sonic arsenal which isn’t surprising, considering his background. Austrian-born and California-based, Wolfgang has played jazz guitar and written film and TV music. The chamber works on this disc reveal his affection for thematic accessibility, harmonic diversity and unconventional instrumental combinations and effects. The repertoire embraces everything from puckish humour and jubilance to haunting modernism and lyrical radiance. Wolfgang is especially inventive in frisky and poetic material for such pairings as bassoon and double bass, as in ‘Low Agenda’, and viola and bassoon, which weave ‘Three Short Stories’. Wolfgang’s ability to tell tiny tales in sound is vividly evident in Rolling Hills & Jagged Ridges, for violin and piano, and the three delightful miniatures that make up Encounters, for violin and bassoon. Still Waters is a tranquil tone-poem for piano, marked by sighs and sustained notes, while Theremin’s Journey places that curiously otherworldly instrument and piano (played alternately by Joanne Pearce Martin) in cheeky avant-garde tandem with electronic sonorities (the composer is at the controls). Along with Martin and Wolfgang, the excellent performers include a busy and nimble bassoonist, Judith Farmer, and indefatigable pianist Gloria Cheng, a master of the subtle colours in Still Waters. (Donald Rosenberg, GRAMOPHONE, August 2011) As though a nod to the opening, we return to a jaunty, funky use of bassoon with Three Short Stories, although it is definitely less “jazz bar” than Low Agenda. The juxtaposition of viola and bassoon makes for a plangent clash of textures and ideas, and it is this three-movement piece that most resembles a unified concert work. (Barnaby Rayfield, FANFARE MAGAZINE Issue 34:6, July/Aug. 2011) (…) The three movements of Short Stories – Uncle Bebop, Rays of Light and Latin Dance – make for an effective triptych with two riotous rhythmic romps framing a rhapsodic, cadenza-like centerpiece. The performance by Ms. Farmer and violist Brian Dembow is jawdropping, with syncopations, cross-rhythms, and the frequent long general rests perfectly unanimous. (…) (Journal of the American Viola Society, Vol. 28/1 (2012)