Woodwind Music by Frank Felice

A short peckish piece for clarinet and wind ensemble that is sarcastic, twiggy, and sometimes sly in nature - composed for clarinetist Daisy Chew

Jumping the Shark

A work for bassoon and stereo fixed media, commissioned by and composed for Doug Spaniol - this is a virtuoso, humorous outing for bassoon wherein the player is haunted but bassoon ghosts, and Der Überbassoon - fast, frantic, new bassoon manipulations abound everywhere.  

Available from Ravello Records on iTunes and Amazon.com

and So the Hole Was Dug

Composed after a study of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, the tone of this work relates to the translation of the verse (Ecc. 1:14) that goes something like this: "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."  The music is often sparse, hollow, plaintive, clangorous, outbursting, settling.....  commissioned by and composed for Erica Egolf

... a chasing after the wind

On September 12, 2001, for what I believe was the first time in my lifetime, the residents of the United States could look up into the sky and not see any vapor trails – in one very noticeable way, an apt metaphor was made for the absence created by the attacks in New York city the previous day: the loss of life, the loss of liberty, the erasure of the city’s skyline, and due to ensuing security concerns, a loss of travel freedoms and civil liberties for many of us who live in the United States.  Even in the ten years since the attacks, the American people have not regained any of these losses – it seems to me that any artistic expression I might make about this event (and its time since then) ought to try and tune into those missing aspects of our former life.  (in many ways, this piece could represent any type of loss, and the remaining person’s reaction to it, not just specifically tied to September 11, 2001) 

The hollow nature of the oboe’s sound and the almost Baltic-minimalist nature of a chromatically-inflected modal melody seems to fit my inner ear for this work.  

Commissioned by and composed for Pamela Ajango French

The Empty Sky

These works attempt to portray a number of facets about Kim Ellis, a wonderful clarinetist who I am honored to call a friend.    The whole set of pieces are wide ranging in style and mood, each piece reflecting one aspect of Kim (as noticed by me!)  Since she and I are both Italian-Americans, each little piece is given its title in Italian, some humorous (and wry humor at that!), and some sobering, with fine gradients of color in between the two.  All in all, this particular set represents a good mix between fun and serious pieces.  

And that is Kim -- fun, talented, humorous, sad, hard working, elegant, stylish, pained, hound-lover, great colleague and friend. 

Belezza

Penare

Liberare il Segugio di Bassotto

Elegante

La Coppia Simpatico

Arguto

Perfezionamento

A set of Chicago blues pieces for...... bassoon!  These virtuositic solo bassoon pieces were commissioned by master bassoonist Doug Spaniol - meant to be fun, witty, playful, and crunk.

Crunk

Pal o'tine

Suburban Shuffle

I am an eclectic composer who writes with a postmodern mischievousness: my pieces can be comedic/ironic, simple/complex, or humble/reverent. My recent projects have taken a turn toward turn towards the sweeter side, exploring a consonant adiatonicism.

Woodwind Music by Frank Felice

FRANK FELICE, composer