Fernande Decruck was a brilliant French organist and composer – rare pursuits for a woman at the turn of the century. Her work was largely unknown before its recent discovery, publication, and recording, a process in which Harmony 3's own bassoonist Dr. Melissa Kritzer played a key role. Born in southwestern France, Decruck passed the legendary exam to enter the Paris Conservatory on the first try and .her students included none less than Olivier Messiaen. A gifted improviser, Decruck gave organ recitals in New York and across the U.S., eventually moving there with her family. Her husband Maurice played double bass and saxophone with the New York Philharmonic. 

This enigmatic piece sets the trio in perpetual motion which is stopped only by a moment for expressive bursts from each instrument. Decruck’s shifting colors sometimes evoke Debussy or Ravel but ultimately reflect a voice all her own.

Fernande Decruck: Capriccio

Have you ever heard this timeless classic – famously written by Holiday following an argument with her mother about money–with a woodwind trio? Jazz vocalist and Yaala Ballin joins Harmony 3 in a beloved configuration called Harmony 3 “plus one” in an arrangement created specifically for this group by Chris Byars.

Billie Holiday: God Bless the Child (arr. Byars)

I. Sequoiadendron giganteum: The Big Tree
II. “A crowd of hopeful young trees and saplings…”
III. The Three Graces

Contemporary American composer Jenni Brandon took inspiration from her experience of sequoia trees and from The Yosemite, a book by renowned mountaineer John Muir, to write this lush, symphonic piece in which three instruments sound like a majestic forest. She writes:

“The opening waving pattern creates the gentle breeze as the growth of the tree starts in the bassoon, moving through the clarinet and is carried all the way to the top of the tree through the oboe. Movement two is sassy and jazzy, describing the kind of resilient attitude that young trees must maintain in order to survive. “The Three Graces” plays on the idea of the three instruments in the ensemble and Muir’s own reference to Greek mythology.”

Jenni Brandon: The Sequoia Trio

Movement I: Adagio and Allegro

Beethoven’s employer Maximilian Franz, the Archbishop and Elector of Cologne, believed that wind music helped his digestion, and so in the 1790s the composer wrote him a graceful sextet for two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons. Fortunately, Mordechai Rechtman, the renowned Israeli conductor, arranger, and longtime principal bassoonist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, made it available to woodwind trios in this beautiful arrangement.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio in E flat Major Op. 71 (arr. Rechtman)

Harmony 3 is an NYC-based trio of dynamic musicians bringing a contemporary perspective to the classic ensemble of oboe, clarinet, and bassoon.

Harmony 3 Reed Trio

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