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Instrumentation
English Horn/Oboe
Bb Clarinet/A Clarinet
Alto Saxophone/ Soprano Saxophone
Bass Clarinet
Bassoon

12′

Movements
I. Sprout
II. Stretch
III. Sow

Seed to Snag by Theo Chandler is a three-movement work, the title referring to the life cycle of a tree and by extension, all organic matter. The three movements describe moments in the life cycle occurring between the very beginning and very end of this life cycle, that is between the seed and the snag, which is a term referring to a dead limb that will eventually decompose, then beginning the cycle again. Seed to Snag looks to the Baroque era for its structure, the opening movement, “Sprout,” imitating the slow appearance of limbs and other plant parts using the musical style of a Baroque Prelude, with a heavily-ornamented, slow-moving harmony. The second movement, “Stretch,” is a virtuosic solo for the bassoon recalling a sonata-style solo with harpsichord accompaniment, the other instruments in the quintet resonating the bassoon’s pitches. The final movement, “Sow,” focuses on consistent pulse and imitation as the seeds spin and spread from the tree in rapid succession. The imitation here, however, is so compressed that the instruments often sound as if they are playing with a delay pedal. The piece ends with a restatement of some opening gestures from the first movement, beginning the cycle again.

Seed to Snag was commissioned for Akropolis by the I-Park Foundation in 2018.