E: Scherzo for bassoon, piano and string trio

‘E’ - Scherzo for bassoon, piano and string trio was conceived as a means of addressing an ‘absolute’ musical concept by pairing it down to single note and tracking its development via tessituras and timbre. E was chosen as it is the bassoon’s highest practical note and because it has the most potential as a natural harmonic across all three strings. ‘E’ is mostly fast but does include a ‘quasi’ waltz section.
The ramifications of E being absent or serving secondary and peripheral roles are examined and exploited and indeed, in one significant section (fig 28-29 in the score), disappears altogether. A secondary array of notes, a rigorous (and ferociously played) twelve-tone series acts as a signal, introducing or terminating paragraphs and/or redefining the direction of travel. The abstraction that informed the intention of the work became less easily defined as the composition progressed and E seemed to metamorphose into a character whose identity was continuously being redefined by its effect on surrounding pitches and colours. Although avoiding as far as possible tonal dominance, a pseudo-dominant note C is introduced into the ‘waltz’ section and becomes ever more invasive until the end of the piece whence ambiguity pervades the coda. It’s important to note that the waltz’s seeming conventionality is undermined by subverting the implied four bar phrases and by overlaying microtonal pitch variants. The piano’s role is principally to be glue, commentator, provocateur and mediator. Its sudden aggressive outburst (fig 25-27) pushes the instrument to the front and serves as the catalyst for the final ‘cello repetition of a high (but slighty flat) E harmonic and the drive to the piece’s conclusion.
An element that is worth investigation is whether ‘E’ might be heard differently if an auditor has absolute pitch, given that E is (paradoxically) not often treated as an actual tonal centre - and if not there, is it missed as much in practice as in theory?