“Double Helix”, by Jenni Brandon, performed by The Diverse Musician’s Alliance (DiMA) at 7:30 p.m. February 9, 2022 in the Imig Music Building, Colorado University (CU), College of Music, Boulder, Colorado.
The Diverse Musicians Alliance, a student-led branch of the CU LEAD Alliance, brings awareness to these female composers and their legacies with two concerts (9 and 16 February) featuring all-female programs. To combat the issue of underrepresentation, DiMA has created an annual concert, “Persevering Legacy,” to highlight works by underrepresented female composers. “Persevering Legacy” is an initiative that began in 2018 as an effort to perform works from the Hellen Walker-Hill Collection.
Program
Persevering Legacy
Elevating the voices of women composers
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022
Colorado University (CU), College of Music
Double Helix — Jenni Brandon
Madison Triplett, bassoon
Hsiao-Ling Lin, piano
Étude III “en pensant à Bach” — Ida Presti
Izzy Fincher, guitar
Rag — Mary Watkins
Gena Rumsey, clarinet
Ya-Ting Yang, piano
Mirage — Dorothy Chang
Logan Banister, alto saxophone
Cotton Dance — Florence B. Price
Reina Krumvieda, piano
Empty Interlude — Text by Roger Chaney and Andy Razaf
Gabrielle Razafinjatovo, mezzo-soprano
Grace Templeton, piano
I Grew A Rose — Florence Price
LJ Hansen, soprano
Aric Vyhmeister, piano
Spiritual Suite — Margaret Bonds
Valley of the Dry Bones
Britta De Groot, piano
Quartet for four violins — Grazina Bacewicz
Allegretto
Andante tranquillo
Eli Pouliot, Olivia Breen, Logan Indge and Alyssa Byrne, violins
Sonata for Viola and Piano — Libby Larsen
Andante
Ashley Santore, viola
Xi Zhang, piano
Double Helix for bassoon and piano (bassoon and piano sheet music) was commissioned in 2014 by bassoonist Christin Schillinger to premiere and perform with Jed Moss on piano. This work is inspired by the sculpture of the same name by Long Beach, California sculptor Susan Hawkins. This sculpture (pictured on the cover of this score) depicts two separate figures dancing around each other, weaving their stories together, but never touching. I loved the idea of using terms that are frequently used to describe dance and began to see the curves and lines and unique topography of these sculptures as fluid and moving. The bassoon and the piano become these two dancers, gracefully moving across a stage to tell the story of this beautiful sculpture.
In “Prelude: Intertwine” the figures dance around each other, one at first (the piano), and then the bassoon joining in, flowing, and weaving in and out of each other. As they move into the “Entrechat” you can hear the fast movement of the feet as the dancer leaps from the floor, crossing and uncrossing the feet in mid-air as represented by the repeated staccato notes throughout this section. After much joyful leaping, the bassoon and piano take turns with solos in “Divertissement: Gentle Beauty”. Leading into the section “Soar” which begins innocuously enough, the dancers slowly begin to climb higher and higher, reaching a climax in this section as the bassoon dazzles with its range and the piano moves deftly from one end of the keyboard to the other. Finally, in “Postlude (Epilogue)” the original intertwine theme returns, allowing the dancers to shift and flow gently around each other, gently shifting back into the still image of the sculpture as the sound fades away.
It was a joy to write this work for these talented musicians, who premiered the work at the Ostin Rehearsal Room on the campus of UCLA on September 21st, 2015.
Double Helix sheet music is available on Jenni’s website at Double Helix – Bassoon and piano sheet music (jennibrandon.com).