FANTASY PIECES for Bassoon

With his skill at writing a memorable tune and the ability to infuse his music with grandeur one moment and humour the next, Derek Bourgeois has been described as a natural successor to Malcolm Arnold as a composer.

After gaining a first class degree and a doctorate of music at Cambridge University, Bourgeois spent two years at the Royal College of Music in London where he studied composition with Herbert Howells and conducting under Sir Adrian Boult. He went into teaching, lecturing in music at Bristol University between 1971 and 1984 when he became Director of Music for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Ten years later, he took up the Directorship of Music at St. Paul's Girl School in London, following in the footsteps of Gustav Holst and Howells, his teacher at the RCM.

Bourgeois's catalogue runs to 391 compositions and includes no less than 116 symphonies, works for a range of ensembles including several for brass band, 17 concertos, an opera and music for television. The 'Fantasy Pieces', written specially for bassoon, were published in 1996 with comprehensive technical advice provided for each of the nine pieces by Robert Porter, sub-principal bassoon of the London Mozart Players and a senior member of the teaching staff at the Guildhall School of Music. Derek Bourgeois introduces them with the following "Written originally as test pieces for the National Youth Orchestra auditions my intention was to cover many different technical problems within a short time span and overall musical structure. In addition to the five longer pieces …. I have added four shorter ones to make up the set."

• 2 Moderato con moto
• 3 Alla marcia
• 4 Tempo di valse
• 5 Allegro moderato
• 6 Moderato
• 7 Allegro vivace
• 8 Allegro feroce
• 9 Moderato con moto

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