Program Notes

Written in 1996, the Bassoon Sonata shows few signs of avant-garde experimentalism, although influences from blues, jazz and even the baroque may be found. The wistful middle movement was inspired by a 5th C legend of some Roman sailors who late at night heard a cry of lament from the Peloponnesian shore: »The Mighty Pan is dead!«  Unless of course he only went into retirement…

Autumn Play

Dazed is Syrinx                        no more haughty
in deadly sleep                         hoofs are withered
gone are the pipes                   screeching shrieks
the gaiety too                           do scare no longer
around his horns                     a soft bassoon
the hair is greying                   now sings contented
a buxom belly                           to the lilt of
bloats his girth                         leaves and brooks

– Ríkarður Örn Pálsson 2015