A piece by Dr. Thomas Dempster, associate dean for Arts and Humanities and director of bands at ASMSA, was featured during a session at the 53rd annual International Double Reed Society conference.
“Zugzwang,” a piece for horn in F and bassoon, was performed by Allison Nicotera, a bassoonist and assistant professor of bassoon at the University of Kentucky, and Bert Hill, a horn in F musician, at the conference on July 22. The performance was included in Nicotera’s conference session, “The Brass Tacks of Bassoon: Exploring Brass Influence in Bassoon Writing.” The conference was held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Dempster said the piece “explores various colors and possibilities of the uncommon pairing of bassoon and horn.” He said the bassoon has horn-like moments while the horn may occasionally sound more bassoon-like using techniques such as muting, stopping and playing in lower registers.
The piece’s title is related to a term in chess and game theory, Dempster said. A Zugzwang is a situation where one player is placed at a disadvantage through being forced or obligated to make a move. He said the Zugzwang is a pursuit or a chase before an endgame scenario.
“I imagined the piece as a series of melodic moves that bounce between the instruments and a long sequence of chases,” Dempster said. “While it sounds somewhat serious, the piece has many moments of humor and silliness, and unlike a turn-based games, both players end up in a harmonious draw at the end.”
Dempster said he feels very fortunate and thankful to have a piece reach an audience such as the one at the conference, which is a peer-reviewed, prestigious international conference for double-reed instruments such as oboe and bassoon as well as double-reed auxiliary instruments such as the English horn and contrabassoon. He also appreciates the work of the performers to bring the piece to life.
This performance marked the first appearance of “Zugzwang” at an IDRS conference, Dempster said. He has had several other works performed at pervious IDRS conferences, generally for bassoon alone or chamber music featuring the bassoon.
To learn more about IDRS, visit https://www.idrs.org/.