"Bear" Thomas Christopher Woodson (b. 1954) is rapidly becoming an
internationally respected composer. Being self-described as "bearded and
chubby" for years, he has been nicknamed "Bear" by friends, which now
include leading musicians and composers around the USA and Europe.

Woodson began his training under Ronald Lo Presti (1933-1986) at Arizona
State University in the 1970's. Mr. Lo Presti stressed detailed counterpoint
and the Chromatic Functional Modality harmonic language. Woodson's early
writings included dozens of discarded symphonies and concertos, and kept
only his virtuoso Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello (1975) and Three
Simple Pieces for Quartet of Young Cellists (1975). He completed his
Bachelor's at Cal Arts (California Institute of the Arts) in December 1977
with Dr. Mel Powell and Alan Chaplain.

Woodson attended the Richard Strauß Konservatorium/Gesellschaft in Munich,
to study with Dr. Peter Jona Korn (1922-1998), on full fellowship from
1979-1980. He worked in other fields during the 1980's, but attended a few
film scoring and composition classes at California State University at
Northridge in the late 1980's with Dr. Aurelio de la Vega, Dr. Beverly
Grigsby, Dr. Daniel Kessner and Robert Drasnin. He returned to Arizona State
University for his Master's Degree from January 1994 to May 1996, under Drs.
Randall Shinn and Chinary Ung, and since then has been composing heavily.

Woodson has been living in Tucson, Arizona since 1996, and has produced
numerous works. In his goal to write sonatas and concertos for each major
instrument of the orchestra, he also arranges the Slow, Second Movements of
his newer 4-movement, accompanied sonatas, to be useable as Konzertstücke
(one-movement concertos) accompanied by String Orchestra.

In December 2001, Bear Woodson became one of only a few people in history,
to have an an entire dissertation written about him, before becoming famous,
before having been a college professor, and while still alive. Dr. Karen
McGale Fiehler is the [French] Horn Player from Canada, who wrote the
dissertation and recorded a 72-minute CD of four of Woodson's works for
Horn, being his: Horn Concerto (Piano Reduction Version), Sonata No. 1 for
Horn and Piano (just the first 3 movements), Sonata for Four Horns and the
Sonata for Unaccompanied Horn. The library listing for that dissertation is:
http://catalog.lib.asu.edu/search/a?SEARCH=McGale


Nine Categories of Fugues invented by Bear Woodson!

Most of Woodson's works have at least one movement containing elaborate, yet
lyrical, canons and fugues. He is known for his many Double Fugues, Triple
Fugues, Stretto Fugues and even one Quintuple Fugue. (A Double Fugue uses
two simultaneous melodies in harmony with each other, to do the Fugue
Process. When three simultaneous melodies do the Fugue Process, it is called
a Triple Fugue, but probably fewer than 30 have been written worldwide in
the 250 years since J.S. Bach died. It is unlikely that as many as 5
Quintuple Fugues have ever been written, and then only in the 20th Century.)

Before J.S. Bach (1685-1750) was born, there were a dozen or so categories
of fugues. Most experts believe that all of Bach's hundreds of fugues were
written within those pre-existing categories of fugues, and that he never
invented even one New Category of Fugue. The 20th Century composer Bela
Bartók (1881-1945) was hailed as a genius for having invented ONE New
Category of Fugue, the Changing Meters Fugue, in his Music for Strings,
Percussion and Celesta (1936). However there has never even been the
suspicion of any composer having invented more than three Categories of
Fugues, (which Bear Woodson suspects of Bach).

As of Early 2005, experts in the US and Europe are examining Bear Woodson's
works for the likelihood that he is the only composer in history, known to
have invented as many as Nine Categories of Fugues! There have been a few
composers since the Late Middle Ages that have used melodies written in
Inversion (Upside-Down) and in Retrograde (Backwards) in Modal or Tonal
Harmony. Woodson uses these melodic directions, plus Retrograde-Inversion
(both Backwards and Upside-Down at the same time), in many of his works,
especially in his Canons and Fugues, but always in Chromatic Modal Harmony
(as he never did like, nor use, 12-Tone Formulas).

These are Bear Woodson's 9 Newly Invented Categories of Fugues,
and listing how many of each he has written by March 2005:
1) one Variation Fugue
(The Fugue Subject in each next Fugal Exposition is a Variation of the
previous.)
2) five Fugues containing a Retrograde-Inversion Canon
(This is a Canon that overlaps the Original direction of a Fugue Subject
with itself
carefully written out both Backwards and Upside-Down.)
3) one Triple Fugue in Inversion
(This is a Triple Fugue that harmonizes when all 3 Fugue Subjects are
carefully
written out Upside-Down.)
4) two Triple Fugues in Retrograde
(These are Triple Fugues that harmonize when all 3 Fugue Subjects are
carefully
written out Backwards.)
5) one Triple Fugue in Retrograde-Inversion
(This is a Triple Fugue that harmonizes when all 3 Fugue Subjects are
carefully
written out both Backwards and Upside-Down.)
6) two Stretto Fugues in Inversion
(These are Stretto Fugues that harmonize when all 4 voices of the Fugue
Subjects
harmonize when written out Upside-Down, while overlapping each other.)
7) two Stretto Fugues in Retrograde
(These are Stretto Fugues that harmonize when all 4 voices of the Fugue
Subjects
harmonize when written out Backwards, while overlapping each other.)
8) two Stretto Fugues in Retrograde-Inversion
(These are Stretto Fugues that harmonize when all 4 voices of the Fugue
Subjects
harmonize when written out both Backwards and Upside-Down, while overlapping
each other.)
9) six Quadruple Directional Stretto Fugues
(These are Stretto Fugues that harmonize when the 4 voices of the Fugue
Subjects
overlap each other, with one voice each in either Original, Inversion,
Retrograde or
Retrograde-Inversion directions all at the same time!)



Compositions for Flute


*    Second Woodwind Quintet (Sept. 1997, 5 mvts., 15 min.)

*    Three Flute Duets (Dec. 1997, 8 min.)

*    Flitter Critters, seven comical duets for Flute in C and Alto Flute in
G
(Feb. 1998, 7 mvts., 10 min.)

*    Journey of the Spirit (April 1998, 18 min.) (8 continuous dances, for
flute, bass
clarinet, string bass, piano & percussion)
(Three Themes combine in Triple Counterpoint at the end.)

*    Sonata for Flute and Piano (Sept. 1998, 4 mvts., 14 min.)
(The 3rd Movement Flamenco adds castanets, and can be used as a separate
piece.)

*    A Cloudy Day for 4 flutes (Nov. 1999, 3 mvts., 8 min.)
(Winner of the June 2000 Hoff-Barthelson Flute Composition Competition)

*    Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Bb Clarinet (Jan. 2002, 5 mvts., 15 min.)

*    Sonata for Unaccompanied Bass Flute (Jan. 2003, 3 mvts., 14 min.)
(Since it is unaccompanied, it can be played on many sizes of flutes.)

*    Sonata for Bass Flute and Piano (May 2003, 4 mvts., 25 min.) (The slow
Second Movement is called Aulos, which is a Fantasy: a set of 5 loose
variations. The 5th Variation has a series of 8 Stretto Fugues culminating
in a Quadruple Directional Stretto Fugue. It can be accompanied either by
piano, or String Orchestra as a Konzertstück. The solo part of the whole
sonata is transcribed to: Standard C Flute, Alto Flute in G, Flauti d'Amore
in Bb and A; Oboe, Oboe d'Amore in A, English Horn in F, Bass Oboe,
Heckelphone; and even Clarinets in Bb, A and C.)

*    Duo for Flute and Bassoon (April 2003, 5 mvts., 12 1/2 min.)
(Transcribed to Eb Soprano and Bb Bass Clarinets. Like the Duo Suite, the
4th Movement uses another a 2-minute Retrograde-Inversion Canon, but this
one is at the Major Ninth below.)

New!!
*   Trio No. 1 for Oboe, English Horn and Bassoon (Dec. 2003, 5 mvts., 19
min.)
(The 4th Movement contains the Triple Fugues in Original, Inversion,
Retrograde and
Retrograde-Inversion directions for the first time in history, all in one
work, in Non-12-
Tone Harmony. The entire Trio is transcribed to Flute and two Clarinets in
either Bb or A.)



Other Compositions



*    Brass Quintet No. 1 "Hercules" (Nov. 1992, 4 mvts., 36 min.) (The 4th
movement is Woodson's first Double Fugue.)

*    Sonata for Unaccompanied Viola, (plus Violin and Cello versions)
(July 1994, 4 mvts., 25 min.) (The 2nd movement is a True, 4-Voiced Fugue,
with 4 Expositions, and the 2nd Exposition uses the Fugue in Inversion. Only
J.S. Bach, Max Reger and Paul Hindemith have succeeded in writing this kind
of fugue.)     

*    Sonata for Four Horns (Dec. 1996, 3 mvts., 14 min.)

*    Scenes in an Oriental Garden: a Duo for Viola and Percussion (March
1997, 8 mvts., 14 min.)

*    Canticle for Unaccompanied Tuba (Sept. 1998, 6 min.) (Played by
Professor Roger Bobo in May 2000.)

*    Variations on a Theme by Bartók for Unaccompanied Trumpet (Dec. 1998, 7
min.)

*    Sonata for Unaccompanied Horn (Sept. 1997, 3 mvts., 12 min.)

*    Arioso for Unaccompanied Trombone (Jan. 1999, 6 min.)

*    Sonata for Viola and Piano (May 1999, 4 mvts., 21 min.) (The 2nd
movement is the Elegy for Dr. Peter Jona Korn, which can also be used as a
Konzertstück. The 4th movement is a fugue that reviews themes from the
previous movements, and uses them in Double Counterpoint against the Fugue
Subject.)

*    Horn Concerto (Dec. 1999, 3 mvts. 16 min.) (The 3rd movement uses the
BEAR Motive [Bb-E-A-D], plus the entire concerto has been transcribed to
Euphonium.)

*    Introduction and Ashkenazic Rhapsody for Harp and Orchestra (April
2000, 9 min.)


*    Musings for Unaccompanied Euphonium, or Baritone (Sept. 2000, Fantasy
Form, 7 min.)

*    Sonata No. 1 for Bb Trumpet and Piano (Dec. 2000, 4 mvts., 17 min.)
(The 2nd Movement is When He Bloweth a Trumpet, Hear Ye [Isaiah 18:3], which
can be used as a Konzertstück. The 4th movement is a jazzy Fugue, which has
one 4-bar phrase, where Woodson harmonizes the Original Subject against
itself in Retrograde-Inversion for his first time.)

*    Sonata No. 1 for Horn and Piano (March. 2001, 4 mvts., 28 min.) (The
2nd Movement is Our Horn Shall Be Exalted [Psalms 89:17], which can be used
as a Konzertstück. The 4th Movement is the BACH-DSCH/BEAR Double Fugue with
a Triple Fugue Coda for Horn and Piano, that uses Musical Notes to spell the
Names of Bach, Shostakovich and Bear Woodson, as Fugue Subjects in the
Woodson's first Triple Fugue. The solo part of the entire sonata is
transcribed to Euphonium and Tuba.)   


*    Suite for Two Bassoons (Jan. 2002, 5 mvts., 18 min.) (Also called the
Duo Suite, it is transcribed for pairs or combinations of Bb Bass Clarinets,
Celli, or an octave higher for Viole, Bb Soprano Clarinets. The 4th Movement
uses a canon of the entire 2-minute melody against itself in
Retrograde-Inversion, [likely the longest in history], at a Major Seventh
lower.)

*    Sonata for Unaccompanied Clarinet (May 2002, 3 mvts., 16 min.) (Since
it is unaccompanied, it can be played on many sizes of clarinets.)

*    In Memoriam for the Fallen Victims of the 9-11 Attack (July 2002, 7
min.) (It is a 6-Voiced Double Fugue for Solo Horn and Strings. This will
become the second movement of Sonata No. 2 for Horn and Piano, but as of
September 2003, the 3rd and 4th movements have not yet been written.)

*    Fanfare for the Fallen Heroes of the 9-11 Attack (August 2002, 8 1/2
min.) (It is a 4-Voiced Double Fugue for String Orchestra, and was nominated
with In Memoriam in the Spring of 2003, for a Pulitzer Prize, as the only
known time that Two Double Fugues were written to commemorate one historic
event. There are plans to re-score it for Wind Ensemble, Brass with
Percussion, and Symphonic Orchestra.)

*    Sonata No. 1 for Harp (Oct. 2002, 4 mvts., 16 min.) (The 4th movement
Fugue, uses the 2-bar phrase, Subject against itself in Retrograde-Inversion
again, but this time twice in one movement. This is one of the very few
fugues originally conceived for the Harp, and the only time to use a
Retrograde-Inversion Canon on the Harp.)

*    Sonata No. 1 for (Bb) Clarinet [or Viola] and Piano (June 2003, 4
mvts.; 26 min.) (The Slow, Second Movement, Undimmed by Human Tears!, which
can be used as a Konzertstück. The 3rd Movement has tributes to the
Slovenian Dedicatee, Professor Joze Kotar, and Benny Goodman. The Benny
Goodman Tribute contains a Swing-styled Fugue and another Quadruple
Directional Stretto Fugue. The 4th Movement is a series of Canons and
Fugues, including yet another Quadruple Directional Stretto Fugue, and
culminating in a Triple Fugue [based on Themes from the first three
movements], and a Triple Fugue in Retrograde [which is likely the only one
in history]. This sonata might even be transcribed an octave lower to Bb
Bass Clarinet and Bassoon.)

*    Sextet for Clarinet Ensemble (Aug. 2003, 3 mvts., 18' 30") (It is
scored for the 5 sizes of clarinets in the Slovenian Clarinet Sextet, being:
Eb Soprano, 2 Bb Soprano, Eb Alto, Bb Bass and Bb Contra Bass, clarinets.
The relaxed 1st Movement Idyll contains another Double Fugue and Quadruple
Directional Stretto Fugue. The 2nd Movement is a lively, comical scherzo
form, with melodies that sound like laughter. The 3rd Movement is a Theme
with 6 Variations, allowing each clarinet to be the soloist of a whole
variation.)

New!!
*   Quintet and Quintuple Fugue for Bb Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello and
Bass (Aug. 2004, 5 mvts., 29 min.)
(The First Movement is one of Woodson's most lyrical works, while the
optional Fifth Movement is one of the few Quintuple Fugues of all history.
This means it harmonizes Five Different Fugues simultaneously!)

New!!
*   Fantasy on a Theme used by Josquin Des Prez for Viola and Orchestra
(Jan. 2005, Theme & 13 Variations, 23 min.)
(Josquin Des Prez [ca. 1440-1521] honored and studied the works of the
Renaissance Master Composer Johannes Ockeghem [ca. 1410-1497], who was
famous for his Cancrizans Canons. These are canons that overlap the original
melody with itself written in Retrograde, and are also known as Retrograde
Canons. In like fashion this Fantasy also contains Retrograde-Inversion
Canons and several Inversion Canons. The Final Variation is crowned by two
Quadruple Directional Stretto Fugues, being Woodson¹s 5th and 6th! Although
the Josquin Fantasy is technically a Viola Concerto, with many passages that
feature the Harp as a co-soloist, most of the woodwinds and brasses get
lyrical solos by playing the many canons.)



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"Bear "Woodson