Julie Ann Giacobassi, English Horn; Stephen Thomas, piano. Recorded at Skywalker Sound, Marin County, California, 2002.

The idea behind these pieces was to produce music that was explicitly for the English horn (rather than the oboe), and provided a meaningful and interesting dialogue between the English horn and the piano. The five pieces form a suite in five movements that are designed to work as a single musical concept when performed together. At the same time, they should stand alone and thus provide flexible options to the English horn recitalist attempting to put together a program from the still limited repertory for the instrument.

The first piece, Exposition, is essentially just that: two theme groups that could well form the exposition of a sonata-like allegro movement. There is no development, but a coda based on the first motif acts somewhat as a recapitulation and brings the piece to a close. One could also think of Exposition as a fanfare; it begins with a series of flourishes that are traded back and forth between two instruments. The concluding section contains some challenging bravura passages.

Program note by John Marvin

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