Works for Bassoon

Apart from my opera The Visitor (which includes a part for bassoon) and my works for symphonic band, I have only written one chamber work that includes a major part for the bassoon. I have been fortunate in knowing a very good bassoonist in St. John's, Grant Etchegary, who has inspired me to write rather challenging music for that instrument.

1. Shanadithit, Op. 29 (1983) This work was commissioned by the Victoria International Festival in 1983, a year that celebrated the arrival of Sir Humphrey Gilbert to Newfoundland in 1583. Even though the work was to be premiered as far away from Newfoundland as possible and still be in Canada, I decided to focus on a Newfoundland theme and to create a work based on the tragic extinction of the Beothucks, the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland. Shanadithit was the last of the Beothucks and the work describes and pays tribute to her life and death. It is scored for string trio, woodwind quintet, piano (harpsichord), and percussion. It has been performed many times and usually creates quite a stir!