Morning Sides: Trio for Oboe, Clarinet & Bassoon (2010)

Composed: June/July 2010
Duration: approx. 8:00 min.
Premiere: November 2, 2010; Morningside Chamber Musicians
Instrumentation: oboe, clarinet (B-flat), bassoon

Movements:
I. The City
II. The Arts
III. The Gardens

Notes:

This piece in three short movement was written on commission from Atlanta-based Morningside Chamber Musicians in celebration of the group’s inaugural season (2010-2011). The work’s title plays on the name of the Morningside neighborhood in Atlanta–a green, cultured and rather affluent part of the inner city, and namesake of the commissioning ensemble.
Three compact movements attempt to capture the main aspects of the neighborhood: its location near Midtown Atlanta with all its hustle and bustle, restaurants, public spaces – and traffic, as can easily be heard in the first movement; the cultured and, on occasion, somewhat highbrow arts scene portrayed in a fun, tongue-in-cheek way; and finally the beautiful and peaceful gardens and parks that surround many of the Morningside residences … including birds chirping in the old trees.

This work has been recorded on the Albany Records label; the full album is available for purchase here.

Performers at the premiere
Dane Philipsen (oboe), Katie Curran (clarinet), Mike Muszynski (bassoon)

Reviews:
“… crisp … a charming neo-classical exercise, with echoes of Poulenc and Stravinsky. Jansa makes the cozy in-town Atlanta neighborhood sound like the tree-lined boulevards of Paris in the 1920s.” (ArtsCriticATL.com, Sept. 18, 2010)