Release Date: November 10, 2017
Catalog #: NV6127
Format: Digital & Physical
21st Century
Chamber
Piano
Wind Ensemble

Music for Woodwinds

Scott Pender composer

Navona Records proudly presents MUSIC FOR WOODWINDS from composer Scott Pender, his fourth appearance on the label. On this album, Pender showcases his chamber works for woodwinds from the last thirty years in ensemble combinations both common and unfamiliar.

The Washington Post has praised Pender’s “good ear for melody and keen sense for the dramatic.” The music on this album is no different: lyricism abounds throughout. In the lighthearted Kimchi Dreams for two clarinets and bassoon, Pender conjures gentle, dreamy imagery, balancing two lyrical pieces with two quirky, rhythmically charged ones. The cinematic Variations for Oboe & Piano uses the classic theme-and-variations form to paint a broad canvas which dissolves into a veiled memory at the end. The dramatic Suite for Woodwind Quintet features bubbling, energetic outer movements surrounding a contemplative Adagio. The lower registers are used to great effect in rich, open chordal writing. The most candid and emotional work on the album, Lyric Set for bassoon and piano, fully exploits the wide range of the bassoon. The movements carry descriptive titles: from the flowing opening of “In the Tide of Times,” followed by the reflective simplicity of “Every Day Is Saturday” – then the stubborn humor of “Lord Berners’ Giraffe,” and ending with the sad grandeur of “Hopeful about the Past.” The remaining pieces—Toccatina for flute quartet and Five Dances for bassoon quartet—add an extra element of rhythmic excitement. Toccatina draws a bright, crisp portrait using the flutes’ upper register contrasting with an emerging melody in the bass flute. In Five Dances the contrabassoon adds depth and drive to the strikingly rich sound of the bassoon chorus.

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Artist Information

Scott Pender

Composer

Scott Pender (b. 1959) has called the phonograph his first music teacher. He cites his parents’ “extensive, eclectic record collection” as a primary early influence. As a child, he began making up tunes at the piano and taught himself to read music. Formal study in piano and theory as a teenager led to his enrollment at Peabody Conservatory, where he began composition studies with Jean Ivey. He holds degrees in philosophy from Georgetown University and music composition from Peabody Conservatory.