Estampie is a lively instrumental dance from the 13th Century arranged for reed quintet (oboe, B-flat clarinet, alto saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon). It is arranged as a "patrol" in which the instruments get louder and louder to the middle, then softer and softer to the end. An excellent piece to diversify concert programs. This title is available in a hard copy format as [1713A].

I first arranged this melody for woodwind quintet in 1960. This version for 2 oboes and 2 bassoons is almost the same as that one. The anonymous tune appeared in “Apollo’s Banquet”, published in 1669. The “waits” were town musicians and the term also applied to street singers of Christmas carols. Sometimes specific tunes represented their towns, hence “The London Waits”. The melody is more recently known as a Christmas carol entitled “Past 3 O’Clock” on a Cold, Frosty Morning”.

A downloadable PDF version is available at SKU [6010B - pdf]

Little Duck for bassoon and 'cello is one of the short duets that Christopher Weait and Margaret Barstow Weait performed at children's and school concerts. The music is drawn from "Roundelays / Danses à la Ronde" by Marius Barbeau et al (Ottawa: National Museum of Canada, 1963) wherein the melody is entitled "The Lame Duck / Petite boiteuse" (p.37). It makes a charming encore.

The piece can easily be played by 2 bassoons.

A downloadable PDF version can be found at SKU [7711-pdf].

This intriguing canonical movement is the final one in Marcello's Sonata II for 2 cellos and continuo. No continuo scored for the movement. It is a pure duet for the two instruments. Christopher Weait and Margaret Barstow Weait often performed it for children's and school concerts as an example of repetitive music. The duet can easily be performed by 2 bassoons.

A downloadable PDF version is available at SKU [0703-pdf]