CONTREDANSE EN RONDEAU (score & parts)

Les Boréades was the last opera by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). It may have been first performed in 1770, after Rameau had died, but then certainly lapsed into a long period of obscurity. The opera owes its modern revival to the conductor John Eliot Gardiner who prepared orchestral material from the original manuscripts, giving a concert version of the piece in 1975 and a fully-staged production in 1982.

Les Boréades has a plot derived from classical mythology. According to the traditions of her country Alphise, Queen of Bactria must marry a descendant of Boreas, the god of the north wind. However she loves Abaris (a mysterious stranger) and she is so determined to marry him that she abdicates. This angers Boreas who promptly abducts Alphise. Abaris sets off to rescue her, aided by the god Apollo. In a surprising plot twist Apollo then reveals that Abaris is his son by a Boread nymph, thus settling the marriage eligibility question!

As was customary in 18th century France the opera includes numerous dances of which the Contredanse en Rondeau is one. It is a lively and catchy instrumental number that flits effortlessly from minor to major numerous times. In this arrangement for bassoon choir, Graham Sheen – who, incidentally, played in the 1975 performance – splits the eight bassoons into two equal groups enabling plentiful and highly effective antiphonal opportunities.

Graham Sheen is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and became a professor there in 1979. He was principal bassoonist of both the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1983-2017) and, until 2016, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, having completed forty years’ service. He has appeared extensively as soloist with both orchestras and in April 2013 gave the première of a new bassoon concerto by Judith Bingham. He has recorded two solo CDs with Elizabeth Burley for SFZ Music. Graham is also a composer, editor and arranger with over sixty published works. He has written several graded albums and studies for bassoon and bassoon ensemble, including Mr Sheen’s Miscellany, a series of 13 pieces for the Trinity Guildhall Examination Board.

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