Wind Trio in G Major for two Flutes and Bassoon

Hello everyone!

I just finished a wind trio for two flutes and bassoon. I was not planning to compose anything like this but I was analizing the first movement from Bach's trio sonata BWV 1039 and I felt like composing something in the same form. Even though everything else is quite different, the form followed and the tonality is exactly like the adagio from that sonata. The different sections are as follows:

Section A (bars 1-16): Theme in Gmaj and repetition of the theme in the dominant key, Dmaj.

Section B (bars 16-32): Transitions Dmaj ==> Bmin and Bmin==> Dmaj.

Section A' (Bars 33-48): Theme starting in Dmaj but moving to Gmaj right at the beginning. So both repetitions of the theme are in Gmajor.

Sections B' (bars 49-64) : Same as sections B but in the original tonality: Gmaj ==> Emin ==> Gmaj. Also, the flutes interchange parts.  

Ending: Repetition of the theme for the last time in Gmaj.

It is my first time composing a trio and also the first time composing for winds, so am afraid there might be some things impossible to play or many counterpoint mistakes. I am particularly worried about the need to breath for the players and also about the change of volume in the flutes depending on the range in which they are playing. Any suggestion, feedback, or comment is more than welcome.

Thank you and I hope you like it!

Wow, what an absolute delight! I always look forward to your uploads and I really enjoyed this piece, well worth the wait. Your harmony and counterpoint is beyond my experience to comment but im sure others will give you detailed feedback. Nothing sounded odd or out of place to my ears but I get what you mean about the performers breath, I don't think they'd get blue lips from this. Well done Jorge!

This is really great!  I am not familiar with the trio sonata you mentioned but it sounds like you were quite inspired!  You resolve the Neapolitan 6th chord in an unusual way.  Normally the N6 (or bII) leads to a V but you resolve it directly to the tonic resulting in some (well hidden) parallel 5ths between the instruments.

As far as breathing goes - you often have the flutes trade off between leading phrases so they have time to breathe in those sections.  The other phrases you have are also easily fragmented into two bar parts which in between which the flute player(s) can breathe.  The only part where the flutes might run out of breath is the long held notes - the only thing about that is that the held notes are usually in a high enough register of the instrument to not take up too much air.  If the held note was in the lower range the flute player would run out of air much quicker although I don't know if a player would be able to hold those long notes without cutting some of them off to take a breath.  I am not a flute player so I am just guessing here.

Overall great job!  Thanks for sharing.

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Wow, what an absolute delight! I always look forward to your uploads and I really enjoyed this piece, well worth the wait. Your harmony and counterpoint is beyond my experience to comment but im sure others will give you detailed feedback. Nothing sounded odd or out of place to my ears but I get what you mean about the performers breath, I don't think they'd get blue lips from this. Well done Jorge!

I am really glad you liked it DarrenEngland! I tend to compose really fast when I have an idea but ideas do not come often 😭 I am really happy you think it was worth the wait! 😄  I am also glad to see you are being really prolific and uploading many new stuff these days! Thank youGlad you for commenting! 

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This is really great!  I am not familiar with the trio sonata you mentioned but it sounds like you were quite inspired!  You resolve the Neapolitan 6th chord in an unusual way.  Normally the N6 (or bII) leads to a V but you resolve it directly to the tonic resulting in some (well hidden) parallel 5ths between the instruments.

As far as breathing goes - you often have the flutes trade off between leading phrases so they have time to breathe in those sections.  The other phrases you have are also easily fragmented into two bar parts which in between which the flute player(s) can breathe.  The only part where the flutes might run out of breath is the long held notes - the only thing about that is that the held notes are usually in a high enough register of the instrument to not take up too much air.  If the held note was in the lower range the flute player would run out of air much quicker although I don't know if a player would be able to hold those long notes without cutting some of them off to take a breath.  I am not a flute player so I am just guessing here.

Overall great job!  Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much PaperComposer! I am glad you pointed out about the Neapolitan chord! It is one of the things I had my doubts on. I actually did it without thinking about the underlying chords, voice leading wise, and then I realized it was the Neapolitan. I have read about (but not seen, honestly) many times that the Neapolitan can resolve directly to the I chord (Korsakov contemplates that option in his harmony teatrise) but, somehow what bothered me, was that I actually move from a V7 (a vii-halfdim) to the Neapolitan, which I think is not common. In any case I liked how it sounds so I left it there. I try to think of it as a tritone substitution for the V7, to justify the movement from V7 to Neapolitan. The parallel fifths, as you said, were so hidden that I tried to not care about them too much either 😅, specially because of the middle line moving chromatically.

The held notes were written legatto but I would expect the players to breathe whenever they felt the need to. I just did not think it was necessary to state that explicitly on the score. 

Glad you liked it and thanks for commenting! 🙂

Wow Jorge, I really enjoyed that, impressing. Simple and catchy motif with beautiful counterpoint. I love the staccatto in forte and how you alternate motif phases with modulating progressions, nice construction.

As a minor critic I miss the main theme (4 opening measures) played by the bassoon. Have you tryed that? Bassoon has a more bass role, while flutes imitate each other. Thats not bad at all, but sinces you have a fugue-like opening with the imitation to the dominant I expected a bassoon reply on the tonic later on. I feel the last cadence a bit weak. Maybe opening the register would help to give a stronger closing feeling (bassoon to the lower G, first flute one octave higher to avoid direct unison and maybe the second flute going to B instead of G to play the 3th of the chord), also a stretto or a deceptive cadence followed by a pause near the end could help.

Those are just details...but overall amazing job 😉

I hope it helps!

Saludos

Thank you @Guillem82, I am really glad you liked it! 🙂

About the bassoon playing the theme, I have to admit that I did not even consider whether that was a nice move or not. Since I chose to follow the form used in Bach's trio I just developed everything in a similar way he did. That is also the reason why the bassoon have most of the times a mere accompanying role (I was also not sure I could have handled the three voice counterpoint with a more complex Bassoon line).

Totally agree with the final cadence. I also think it's weak and that ending should be changed. I will surely change it in the future. Not sure how to do it but I will try several options, such as the stretto and the deceptive cadence, and see what fits best.

Thank you for commenting!

Saludos!

Much enjoyed this. Every part has a spright in their step and a little attitude as well! 

On 12/16/2020 at 4:34 AM, Markus Boyd said:

Much enjoyed this. Every part has a spright in their step and a little attitude as well! 

 

Thank you so much for commenting Markus Boyd! I am really glad you enjoyed it! 🙂