At the suggestion of the Japanese bassoonist Shigeru Ohta, I have written a short piece to accompany my Fugue for flute, bassoon, and piano, written in 1987. I have called it a postlude, not only because it follows the fugue both in placement and time of composition, but also to make a small philosophical statement. My idea is to contrast the old and the new by combining the fugue, an older, more serious form of baroque origin, with a thoroughly modern piece written in the free-wheeling, urban style of jazz. The postlude includes a reference to the fugue's subject, but it cannot sustain a properly serious attitude, quickly dissolving back into jazz.
The world premiere was performed on Oct. 3, 1995 in Tokyo by Mr. Ohta and his wife, flutist Yoshiko Ohta, with myself at the piano.
