The Treant's March

Treants are fantasy creatures resembling large trees with a humanoid form. Protectors of nature, these large tree people are infamous for their low agility, but uncanny ability to blend in with the perfectly mundane trees it is bound to protect.

When I was asked to write this piece for Dr. Van Klompenberg, I was honored to be included in the project, but also nervous as I had not yet written for or have much knowledge on the bassoon, let alone its contra sibling. After doing some research on instrument ranges and effective rhythmic capability, I decided that it would be funny if I wrote the instrument a march. Given my perception of double reeded instruments sounding like the forest, as well as my affinity for a certain famous literary Treant, it seemed like a no brainer to make the creature the subject of this march.

The piece begins with the Treant rousing itself, slowly removing its long-planted roots from the earth before finding itself a new home. The underlying bassline first (and finally) performed by the contrabassoon, and continued in the piano, is symbolic of the Treants foot falls. Starting at the contrabassoon cadenza, we gain some insight into the Treants thoughts, wondering where it might settle. Beginning at measure 35, the Treant begins to step with more purpose, humming to itself as it checks in with the forest and finds its new home, in which it discovers and settles in at measure 49, returning to slumber at the end of the piece.