Rhapsody for oboe, bassoon and piano

This page is an appendix to the blog post Looking Back to See Ahead from December 30, 2025. It contains a kind of compositional changelog, a chronological list of edits made during the making of Rhapsody for oboe, bassoon and piano. You can refer to the tables on this page while reading about the composition process in the aforementioned blog post, where you can also find PDF example scores.

Even more is written about the piece in the posts A Well-Laid Plan and To Absent Friends. Together, they give a detailed presentation of the piece: its inception, structure, and creation.

June 25, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
All1–15Started out essentially transcribing the dialogue between the Mother and the Midwife from scene 2, basing the piano part on the rehearsal score.
Piano10–12Piano accompaniment left unfinished for three bars.
Piano15–19Very rough, early sketch of this interlude section. Only the C sharp leading to D in bassoon remains in the finished music.

July 6, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
Piano3Added p sub.
Piano10–12Added piano accompaniment.
Piano13–14Refined right hand.
Piano15–20Elaborated interlude (formerly bars 15–18).
All21–54New material.

August 14, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
Piano29–32Developed, especially left hand.
Piano33–36Elaborated accompaniment.
Piano39–40New material.
Piano43–44New material.

August 31, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
Piano21–28Realigned all eighth note beams up.
Piano31–32Refined both hands.
Oboe, Bassoon33Changed dynamic from f to mf.
Piano37–38Elaborated accompaniment (like in bars 33–36 before).
Bassoon38–40New material.
Piano45–47New material (following 43–44 before).
All47New tempo.
All48New tempo.
All52New tempo.
All54–103New material by Aug 30th.
All76–87Changed metre to 3/4 Aug 31st.
Piano88–98Eighth notes beamed in half note groups.
Piano95Refined the end of this bar to flow more naturally into the next.
Oboe, Bassoon99–101Refined material.
Piano104–110Eighth notes beamed in half note groups.
All104–141New material Aug 31st.

September 4, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
Oboe, Bassoon6New dynamic mp.
Oboe, Bassoon10New dynamic mf.
Oboe22New dynamic mp.
Oboe, Bassoon23–24New < > hairpins.
Oboe, Bassoon27New dynamic mf.
Oboe, Bassoon28New > hairpins.
All47–48Removed “poco accel.”.
All63Changed “Poco tenuto” to “Tenuto”.
All64Moved tempo “1/4 = 138” here instead of bar 48.
Oboe65New dynamic mp.
Piano87Refined accompaniment.
Oboe, Bassoon87New dynamic f. Broke slur in Oboe.
Piano88New dynamic mp sub.
Oboe, Bassoon88New dynamic mp.
Oboe, Bassoon91Elaborated idea; more syncopated.
Piano91New < hairpin in right hand.
Oboe, Bassoon94Removed > hairpins.
Piano95–96New dynamics < mp sub.
Oboe, Bassoon96–97New diminuendo hairpins.
Piano111–127Added slurs.
Oboe134–135New material.
Oboe, Bassoon138–144Added slur.
Oboe, Bassoon140New crescendo hairpin.
Oboe, Bassoon142New diminuendo hairpin.
All145–220New material.

September 7, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
All1–30New material.
Oboe, Bassoon37–43New dynamics.
Piano61–62Refined left hand arpeggio.
Piano63–68Added slurs in left hand.
Oboe, Bassoon73–77Changed slurring and removed eighth rests at the beginning of bars.
All82Changed “poco rall.” to “rallentando”.
Oboe97Added tenuto.
Oboe105Changed dynamic from mf to f.
Oboe113Added tenuto.
Oboe, Bassoon117Removed dynamic f, changed to marcato.
Oboe121–122Added tenutos.
Bassoon128Added tenutos.
All157Added text “lunga” to fermata.
Bassoon173–174Refined phrase.
Oboe177–178Added tenutos.
Bassoon180Added tenuto.
Oboe191–201Added tenutos.
Oboe203–206Refined dynamics.
Piano206Changed dynamic from mp to p.
Piano213Added < hairpin.
Bassoon217Added < hairpin.
All220Removed “mosso” tempo.
Piano220–229Developed and refined accompaniment.
Oboe, Bassoon222Changed dynamic from f to mf espressivo.
Oboe, Bassoon228–229Added crescendo.
Bassoon230Added tenutos.
Piano230–237Removed pedal line.
Oboe, Bassoon233–237New material.
Piano236–237Elaborated accompaniment.
All238Added tempo “Più maestoso 1/2 = 60”, replacing “Poco più mosso” in bar 240.
Oboe241New material.
Bassoon246Refined phrase.
All250–263New material.

September 10, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
All25–27Elaborated bars; added new bar 26 to extend phrase.
Piano27Removed caesura; no longer needed as chord and fermata now in front of bar.
Oboe, Bassoon32Changed dynamic (back!) from p to mp.
Oboe37–39Changed dynamics one step down to p and mp, respectively.
Oboe40–44Refined dynamics to be more nuanced, from p up to mf and then mp.
Piano114Moved two-note chord to left hand.
All176New tempo “1/2 = 48”; previously 46.
Oboe180Added tenuto.
All181Shortened length of “rallentando”.
Oboe197Added tenuto.
Bassoon215–217Changed dynamic from mf to mp.
Piano231–238Refined accompaniment.
Oboe, Bassoon233Added > hairpins.
Piano239–242Refined material, thinning out right hand chords in first two bars and inverting right/left hand structure in the last two bars.
Piano241–242Added >< hairpins in right hand.
Oboe246Added tenuto.
Bassoon247Refined phrase.
Oboe, Bassoon253Elaborated phrase.
Oboe, Bassoon260Changed slurs.
Oboe261Added dynamic mf.
Bassoon262New material; countermelody to oboe.
Bassoon263–264Added dynamics mf < f Sept 9; removed all except f Sept 10.
Piano264Added < hairpin.
All265–280New material Sept 9.
All265–268Elaborated and refined all parts Sept 10; simplified call/response structure in winds and thinned out piano.
Piano273Changed dynamic from mf to mp.
Oboe, Bassoon276–281Refined phrases Sept 10.
All279Added “ritardando”.
All282–289New material.

September 16, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
All21New bar 21.
Bassoon, Piano25–26Removed “legato”.
Oboe28Shortened to eighth note.
Oboe34–35Added tenutos.
Piano45–46Removed pedal lines.
Piano53–60Changed notes in right hand to dotted whole notes instead of dotted half notes.
Piano63Changed first note in left hand to dotted quarter note, matching the next bar.
Piano65Added dolce to mf dynamic.
Bassoon71Added dotted half note C an octave below oboe to the end of phrase.
Bassoon72Refined material.
Piano107Added slur in left hand.
Piano112–114Added dotted half notes in left hand.
Piano119Changed note on last beat from eighth to quarter note.
Oboe126Added tenuto.
Piano150Added > hairpin.
Piano151–153Changed slurs.
Oboe177Added tenutos.
Oboe, Bassoon183Changed dynamic from p to mp.
All207–208New tempo markings “pochiss. rit.” and “A tempo”.
Piano208–223Removed pedal line.
Oboe225Added tenuto.
Bassoon239Refined phrase.
Oboe, Bassoon240–241Added staccatos and tenutos.
Piano240–243Added slurs, removed >< hairpins, refined material especially in left hand.
Bassoon247Extended note with an eighth.
Bassoon249Moved hairpin to correspond with oboe.
Oboe, Bassoon254Changed slurs.
Oboe261Extended slur back to this note.
Piano265–269Refined and elaborated accompaniment, especially right hand.
Piano276–277Changed < hairpin in left hand bar 277 to two-bar crescendo.
All290–301New material.

September 18, 2025

Instrument(s)Bar(s)Description
Bassoon1Added tenor clef from start.
Oboe11Refined rhythm.
Bassoon16Removed now-redundant tenor clef.
Bassoon19Added bass clef.
Piano22Added bass clef.
Piano29Moved dynamic p here from bar 32.
Bassoon33Removed bass clef.
Piano64Removed up arrow from arpeggio.
Oboe, Bassoon75–79Added back (!) eighth rests at the beginning of bars (that I had removed by Sept 7).
Bassoon119Removed bass clef.
Piano146Cut off last C flat in right hand at barline instead of extending it into next bar.
Bassoon175Elaborated idea; more syncopated rhythm.
All177Changed metre from 4/2 to 2/2.
All189Added fermata lunga.
Bassoon192Changed multiphonic description (formerly “bright and harmonic-sounding”.
Bassoon195Changed multiphonic description (formerly “similar-sounding but with different tonal/harmonic make-up”).
Oboe239Elaborated idea; more syncopated rhythm.
Bassoon241Extended D note a quarter note into this bar from the previous.
Piano246–247Simplified left hand slightly; both bars begin with a quarter note.
Bassoon277Extended A note a half note into this bar from the previous.
Bassoon280Added bass clef.
Piano286–287Added two-bar slurs in both hands.
Bassoon287Changed quarter note E flat to C sharp.
Bassoon295Cut off D note at barline instead of extending it into next bar.
Piano297Moved A to left hand.
Piano298Moved D to right hand.
All299Changed “rallentando” to “più rall.”.
Piano299Added <> hairpins.
Oboe299–300New material.
All301Changed tempo from “Più lento q = 80” to “A tempo”.
All303Added tempo “Ritenuto”.
All304Added tempo “Rubato”.
Piano308New material; last bar!