Check out the many works for Oboe and Saxophone commissioned by the “Three Reeds Duo”
Gauntlet by Joshua Burel (2021)
Joshua completed his Doctor of Music degree in Music Theory and Composition at Florida State University and completed his Master of Music degree in Composition and his Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance and Music Education at Western Michigan University. He studied composition with Ladislav Kubik, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, C. Curtis-Smith, and Richard Adams and violin with Benjamin Sung, Renata Artman Knific, Amanda Walvoord Dykhouse, and Ellen Rizner. He has served on the faculties of Webster University in St. Louis, MO and the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, and currently serves as the Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Joshua’s compositions are regularly performed in venues throughout the United States including Carnegie Hall, the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival in Washington, the Bowling Green State University New Music Festival, the University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Festival, the Biennial Festival of New Music hosted by Florida State University, and the Constellation Concert Series at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Gauntlet was commissioned in 2021 through the Varnado Professorship at Northwestern State University. The work explores the intertwining timbres of the oboe and saxophone in a technical race that embodies the name. Ostinato rhythms provide an energetic dialogue between the two instruments. This is a single movement work and is approximately 8 minutes in length. To play this piece contact Joshua Burel, Composer (www.joshuaburel.com) to purchase the score.
Signals Cross by Kyle Blaha
Kyle Blaha currently serves as the professor of Ear Training and Theory at The Juilliard School. This work is the title track to our first album, and also one of the four works commissioned in 2011 as part of the NSULA Creative & Performing Arts Derby Professorship.
The name comes from a lyric in an Indigo Girls song that holds special meaning to me and the composer. The work is composed for English Horn and alto saxophone (with EH switching to Oboe on mvmt 3) and is approximately 10 minutes in length. The 3 movements explore the timbral palettes of each instrument, both together and as soloists. To play this work, contact Dr. Blaha (kyleblaha@Gmail.com) or send us a message!
Double Cadenza by Gregory Wannamaker
Wanamaker is currently Professor of Composition at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam where he has served since 1997. Double Cadenza was commissioned in 2011 as part of the NSULA Creative & Performing Arts Derby Professorship. The work is for Oboe & Tenor Saxophone and “highlights the timbres and techniques unique to the oboe and tenor saxophone as individuals while combining the two distinctly different instruments as a single, unified color.”
The work is one movement, about 8.5 minutes long, and explores the extreme dynamics ranges and timbres of both instruments (including multiphonics)! To hear the whole piece, check out the piece on our album “signals cross.” To play this piece contact Gregory Wanamaker, Composer (www.gregorywanamaker.com) for the score.
Pastorale by Marcus Maroney
Marcus Karl Maroney is the Associate professor of Music at the University of Houston. Pastorale was also commissioned in 2011 as part of the NSU Derby Professorship. It was composed for Oboe & Alto Saxophone and evokes the pastoral feelings often associated with the oboe. The work is one movement, about 4 minutes long, and creates a unique relationship between the oboe and saxophone (whereas the sax is sometimes the oboe’s shadow, but also has it’s own moments of glory!)
To listen, check out the piece on our album “signals cross.” To play this piece contact Marcus Karl Maroney (www.mkmaroney.com) for the score.
The Journey by Richard Rose
Richard Rose is the retired professor of cello and composition at Northwestern State University. This work was one of the four works commissioned in 2011 as part of the NSULA Creative & Performing Arts Derby Professorship. The work is composed for oboe and alto saxophone (with sax switching to soprano on “Love Song”) and is approximately 8 minutes in length. The four short movements follow the life of two people who meet, fall in love and live a life together, and showcase the many emotions evoked in music and life.
The work is available to listen to on our debut album, signals cross. To play this work, contact Mr. Rose (r_rose@bellsouth.net) or send us a message!
Three Reed Suite by Thomas Hundemer
Thomas Hundemer has served as principal horn of the Shreveport Symphony since 1983 and serves on the faculty at Centenary College. Three Reed Suite was one of the four works commissioned in 2011 as part of the NSULA Creative & Performing Arts Derby Professorship. The work is composed for oboe/EH and alto/tenor saxophone (with different pairings in different movements). The piece has 5 movements and is approximately 15 minutes in length. The music is lyrical, humorous, virtuosic, and explores the timbral possibilities between the various combinations of instruments.
The work is available to listen to on our debut album, signals cross. To play this work, contact Mr. Hundemer (tomhundemer@yahoo.com) or send us a message!
Duo Displasia by Alyssa Morris
Alyssa Morris has delighted audiences around the world with her “exceptional” and “soulful” musicianship (Fanfare.) American Record Guide describes her playing as “stunning,” exhibiting “unmistakable…virtuosity.” Alyssa serves as Assistant Professor of Oboe and Music Theory at Kansas State University, and as the principal oboist of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra and Wichita Grand Opera. She earned her BM and MM degrees in oboe performance at Brigham Young University, where she studied with Dr. Geralyn Giovannetti. She earned her DMA in oboe performance with a cognate in composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied with Dr. Mark Ostoich, Dwight Parry, and Lon Bussell. Regarding her equally expansive work as a composer, Alyssa’s chamber music is performed extensively around the world. Her music has been presented at several International Double Reed Conventions, the National Flute Association Convention, the National Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest, and the Society of Composers Inc. National Convention.
This work was commissioned in 2016 by the Three Reeds Duo and NSULA Creative & Performing Arts. It is composed for Oboe & Alto Saxophone in four movements (11 minutes total length). Duo Displasia is a “displaced Fantasia.” Within the framework of a baroque dance suite, the piece fuses baroque and jazz idioms, creating a musical conversation between two instruments with very different histories.
The work was premiered at the 2017 IDRS Conference in Appleton, WI, and is recorded on the Three Reeds Metamorphosis album, released in Fall 2019 on the Blue Griffin label! To purchase, visit Trevco Music.
Little Rivers by Peter Lieuwen
Peter Lieuwen is currently Professor of Music and Composer-in-Residence at Texas A&M University, where he has been on faculty since 1988. Little Rivers was commissioned by Three Reeds in 2018 and was premiered internationally at the 2018 World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia. Little Rivers is a sonic image of the visual and auditory intricacies of mountain rivulets, from the first snow melt in spring to their gradual evolution into small streams with their tranquil pools, glides, rapids and water falls as they gradually morph into larger rivers. Rhythmically, the piece is upbeat, positive and luminous.
The work is one movement, about 8 minutes long, and will be available to hear on our album “Metamorphosis” (to be released in September). To play this piece contact Peter Lieuwen, Composer (www.peterlieuwen.com) for the score.