Manfred Schoof (*1936) Germany

2 Impromptus für Fagott und Klavier (1992)
Schott FAG 25

Manfred Schoof (*1936) became famous in Germany through his artistic combination of free jazz with the music of the avantgarde. He also earned international acclaim as a performer. It is, however, less well known that he received a classical musical education. As well as trumpet and piano he also studied composition. Indeed,he gives a lot of credit for his musical ideas to his composition teacher, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, thus explaining why he feels equally at home in the field of contemporary classical music. For example, he performed the trumpet part, which was written specifically for him, in the premiere of Zimmermanns "Soldiers" (1965). Schoof has composed many choral and orchestral works for broadcasting houses as well as a commissioned piece for the Donaueschingen Music Festival (1975).

He wrote his "Two Impromtus for Bassoon and Piano" in 1993 and dedicated them to Dag Jensen and Midori Kitagawa. He infused both of these contemporary works with the verve of modern day jazz. In the foreword to this edition, Schoof says " both these Impromtus were written spontanaeously and should therefore be played spontanaeously and musically. They are both reminiscent of contemporary jazz with typical phrasings and melodic changes" These echoes of jazz are particularly evident at the beginning of the second Impromtu in the bassoon melody, as well as in typical jazz harmonies and diverse improvised passages. During the second impromtu, Schoof gives the bassoonist the chance to improvise over prescribed scales, chords and tones.