Kriya for bassoon and piano
photo: Minna Leinonen
Commissioned by Otto Virtanen and Kirmo Lintinen
Fp in Finland: Otto Virtanen, bassoon and Kirmo Lintinen, piano, Red & Roses, Sellosali, Espoo, March 19th 2009
Fp in Norway: Embrik Snerte, bassoon, Joachim Kwetzinsky, piano
Ung Nordisk Musik, Oslo, August 31st 2008
Kriya is a feisty, virtuoso piece for bassoon and piano. It is an idiomatic work for bassoon in which I have used the numerous textural and timbral possibilities of the bassoon. Piano is either a dynamic support or an equal, alternating partner. Kriya means energy and action in Sanskrit. Kriya is divided into three sections. The first theme of the first section (Allegro virtuoso, energico) includes accents and wegde-shaped forms. In the second theme the two instruments take turns in a motif-based dialogue. The third theme is a rhythmical canon in which registers are alternating rapidly in a pointillistic fashion. The middle section (Andante) is based on different types of "wobbling" including micro-intervals, trills, piano pedalling, vibrato and tremolo - and on varying dark and bright timbres. The third section (Allegro virtuoso, energico) returns to the bursting expression of the first section.
