Italo Calvino was one of Italy’s great authors. I have always been drawn to his whimsical, colorful writing. For this musical work, alongside “Dinosaurs” and “The Origin of Birds,” I was inspired by his collection of stories, Cosmicomics. His stories follow characters through times of major change in the universe.
For “The Aquatic Uncle”, the story has three main characters, so I thought it would work perfectly for trio. The bassoon portrays our narrator, Qfwfq, whose family has recently evolved to become land creatures, but their backwards uncle, N’ba N’ga (represented by the piano,) chooses to remain a fish, despite his relatives’ best efforts to convince him that life on land is better. The oboe represents the beautiful, agile land creature Lla, who Qfwfq becomes smitten with. A very strange inter-species love triangle ensues. You can use your imagination as you listen to the musical representation!
The three musical works of the Cosmicomics Trilogy were written for the 2024 IDRS International Conference in Flagstaff, AZ, and premiered by the composer at the piano, with Dr. William Aikens, oboe, and Dr. Jeffrey McCray, bassoon.
