Bright Angel is a composition for three bassoon

Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...

s and contrabassoon

Contrabassoon

The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...

 by Graham Waterhouse

Graham Waterhouse

Graham Waterhouse is an English composer and a cellist. He is known for chamber music and for unusual scoring, such as Piccolo Quintet, Bright Angel for three bassoons and contrabassoon, Chieftain's Salute for Great Highland Bagpipe and string orchestra, and works for speaking voice and cello,...

. It was composed in 2008 for the annual conference of the International Double Reed Society

International Double Reed Society

The International Double Reed Society is a Finksburg, Maryland-based organization that promotes the interests of double reed players, instrument manufacturers and enthusiasts....

.

History

Graham Waterhouse composed Bright Angel for the IDRS Conference 2008 in Provo, Utah

Provo, Utah

Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...

 and chose the theme of the composition to match the setting of the conference. He recalls a hike which he took, age nine, with his father William Waterhouse. In 1972, when William Waterhouse taught for one year at Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

, they crossed the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...

 from the North Rim

North Rim, Arizona

North Rim is a populated place in Coconino County, Arizona, United States, located adjacent to the Grand Canyon within Grand Canyon National Park. The area includes a Visitor Center, lodging, and a number of hiking trails, including the Bright Angel Point and Transept trails.North Rim is ...

 to the South Rim, on the North Kaibab Trail

North Kaibab Trail

The North Kaibab Trail is a hiking trail in Grand Canyon National Park, located in the U.S. state of Arizona.-Access:Access to this part of the park by car is seasonal, open from mid-May to mid-October or depending on snowcover from the previous winter...

 and the Bright Angel Trail

Bright Angel Trail

The Bright Angel Trail is a hiking trail located in Grand Canyon National Park in the U.S. state of Arizona.-Access:The trail is accessed by the mule corral, as seen here:-Description:...

.

Bright Angel was premiered by Michel Bettez, Richard Ramey, Richard Moore and Henry Skolnick, conducted by the composer, at the Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

. It was published by the German publisher Accolade (Warngau) in 2009 as Bright Angel für 3 Fagotte und Kontrafagott.

Bright Angel was part of a concert The Proud Bassoon, celebrating William Waterhouse on 16 April 2011 in Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...

. It was performed by the Bassoon Quartet from the Royal Northern College of Music

Royal Northern College of Music

The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...

 in Manchester, where William Waterhouse had been a teacher of bassoon and a curator of the instrument collection. The players were James Thomas, Linda Begbie and Stefano Canuti, bassoon, and Jonathan Jones, contrabassoon, lead by Canuti who is "International Chair in Bassoon" at the RNCM, and Professor at the Conservatorio Superior de Aragon. The performance was the premiere of Bright Angel in the United Kingdom. The composer's string trio

String trio

A string trio is a group of three string instruments or a piece written for such a group. The term is generally used with reference to works of chamber music from the Classical period to the present.-History:...

 Epitaphium

Epitaphium

Epitaphium is a composition for string trio by Graham Waterhouse. In 2007, after the death of his father William Waterhouse, he composed Epitaphium In Memoriam W.R.W. as a tribute to his memory.- History :...

, originally composed for his father's memorial service, was also part of the concert program.

Music

The composer comments:

The piece tries to reflect a sense of wonder and awe at both the majesty and the brutality of Nature. Some of the contours (or recollections of them) are mirrored in the variously undulating and jagged lines. Also recalled during the composition were the perpetually shifting vistas, as well as the toil of tramping out the dusty trail, stumbling over boulders, cowering during a storm.
The musical material is mostly contained within the opening motive, first heard as a solitary voice, before recurring over a wide-spanning accompaniment of arpeggios. The slow, reflective introduction gives way to a faster section, based on an energetic, pulsating rhythm. It is to the tranquil mood of the opening that the work eventually returns, closing on an unresolved chord, to capture the eternity of the Canyon.

After the concert in Wigmore Hall, the reviewer described an arch between a "deep, grumbling opening and ending (rather like Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony)" and the "various moods of the route in an engagingly atmospheric piece".

External links

• Graham Waterhouse website
• Henry Skolnick, Interlochen