These trios were written to play with friends, initially on alto recorder, oboe and french horn. With the first one, I found I enjoyed writing - and hearing - these mixed trios with their tonal variety much more than trios for three like instruments. Our combo covers from the bass (a frequent role for the horn) to the soprano.

My music is in a melodic rather than a modern abstract or academic style, usually with lots of counterpoint and ornamentation. I try to write interesting parts with some leads for each player, and not too difficult for reasonably experienced amateurs like me, but as the three parts often diverge, there are some fair ensemble sight-reading challenges.

A few works have "effects" in the recorder parts: flutter-tonguing or slides (played by gradually rolling the fingers off the holes from the bottom). If these don't work for you or if you don't like them, please feel free to ignore them, or to change flutter-tonguing to trills and slides to regular glissandi.

I usually try to think up a name for the music after I write it, something that seems (at least at the time) somewhat expressive of its character. But the name of the first exploration into this ensemble spells out the genre: Crosswinds Trio Suite, and likewise the second: Three Strong Winds That Blow Harmony. (With recorder, even a "strong" one, versus an oboe it was quickly dubbed "Two strong winds and a wheezing asthmatic", so I bought a mini-amp for the recorder to assist the balance.) Of course, these titles lose much of their meaning if you employ a violin or a cello!

After several trios and playing sessions, we tried substituting clarinet for oboe and really liked the blend. And the "Modern Alto" recorder didn't need amplifying. So we switched, and some of the later music strays out of oboe range occasionally, with small alternate notes provided. A few pieces were originally intended for substitute instruments in one of the parts, eg Flutoot is for recorder, flute and horn, and Sea Shanty started out for violin, oboe and horn.

One of the marvels of writing music with a computer is the ability to produce transposed parts easily, so I write the scores in C (horn part in bass clef), and run off a Bb clarinet part and an F horn part, or print out three copies of the score, one in concert pitch, one with Bb second part, and one with the third in F.  So pretty much whatever the instrumentation, there is a part for all. The clarinetist and I prefer to read off the scores to help keep things together, but our casual horn player likes an individual part without distractions.

     Suggested Instruments  (other combos not to be discouraged!)

For the top line: Alto Recorder, Flute
For the middle line: Clarinet, Oboe, Violin
For the bottom line: F.Horn, Cello, Trombone, Bassoon

(I confess Flute, Cello and Bassoon are untried by us, with Violin and Trombone present only on a couple of plays for a few of the tunes.)

     The Trios

These are the trios I've written and played. If you like them, please do write and let me know. You're welcome to import the MIDIs to notation/engraving software and copy them for personal, non-commercial use. (I'd love to hear about the combo you play them on!)

Craig[at]saers[dot]com
Victoria BC, Canada
January 22, 2001

Title                    Year, Key, Time, Pages - comments

Busy Streets               2000, F, 2'15", 2pgs
A Christmas Rhapsody     2000, Dm-F, 1'35" 2pgs - in a Christ-mass spirit
Crosswinds Trio Suite     1999
     Prelude          C, 2'15", 3pgs - some fancy recorder stuff
     Generals March     Bb, 0'45", 1pg - horn solo
     Reflection          C, 2'45", 2pgs - the original inspiration for the trios!
     Finale               G, 1'30", 2pgs - rousing
The Dusty Trail          2000, Bb, 2'10", 2pgs - nice horn solos
Excursion               2000, F, 2'45", 3pgs
Flutoot               2001, C, 1'40" 3pgs - targetted for recorder, flute and horn
March Of Vigour          2000, F, 1'35", 2pgs
Marsh March             2000, Dm, 2'10", 3pgs
On The Mountainside     2000, Bb, 2'40", 3pgs
Pondering               2000, Dm, 2'00", 3pgs - Moving
Sea Shanty               2000, C, 2'50", 3pgs - a favourite
Three Strong Winds That Blow Harmony     1999, D (or Eb version), 3'05", 2pgs - a
                      favourite "song without words" (The title is also a take-off
                      on Ian Tyson's popular 1960's song "Four Strong
                      Winds" [that blow lonely].)
Windy City               2000, F, 2'10", 3pgs - (originally "Windy Sitty" - in addition
                      to its gusting mood, you sit down and play it with winds
                      -- but all my friends could think of was flattulence!)