''Rhapsody'' by Willson Osborne is a piece originally composed for solo

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

and later adapted for

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

. The composition was first published by Peters in 1958. It is the most frequently performed work in the solo bassoon repertoire. Osborne recorded the rhapsody in collaboration with Sol Schoenbach for a 1952 radio program of contemporary American music run by WNYC in New York. The piece's working title was "Study for Bassoon", but Osborne intended to make it playable on clarinet as well. According to the composer the piece was written as "abstract music" using "the Oriental technique of variation, in which short song-like fragments are in turn developed". The work is notable for its extensive use of descriptive instructions: only two staves have no such markings.

References

Compositions for bassoon Solo clarinet pieces Osborne Instrumental solo pieces {{composition-stub