2014 clarinet sonata consortium
Historias y Danzas
for clarinet and piano
Julio Cortázar
UPDATE - 5/14/14 - The piece is finished! Check out the MIDI demo below...
This is my first new work for clarinet and piano since "E-Type Jag" composed in 1998. Since that time, I've written for clarinet in many different settings and my appreciation for the instrument and those who play it has only increased. So, I'm thrilled to announce that I'm returning to this combination and hope to create something more substantial and interesting this time around.
Inspired by the short stories of Argentine writer Julio Corta´zar, this work will be a significant multi-movement sonata of approximately 15 minutes in duration. Incorporating elements of Afro-Latin dance music, along with contemporary techniques and virtuosity, the work should present rewarding musical and technical challenges for the most advanced players.
The work will be commissioned by a consortium of 10-12 clarinetists with Dr. Wesley Ferreira as the lead member.
This is my first new work for clarinet and piano since "E-Type Jag" composed in 1998. Since that time, I've written for clarinet in many different settings and my appreciation for the instrument and those who play it has only increased. So, I'm thrilled to announce that I'm returning to this combination and hope to create something more substantial and interesting this time around.
Inspired by the short stories of Argentine writer Julio Corta´zar, this work will be a significant multi-movement sonata of approximately 15 minutes in duration. Incorporating elements of Afro-Latin dance music, along with contemporary techniques and virtuosity, the work should present rewarding musical and technical challenges for the most advanced players.
The work will be commissioned by a consortium of 10-12 clarinetists with Dr. Wesley Ferreira as the lead member.
Perusal ScoreProgram NotesHistorias y Danzas or “Stories and Dances” is a collection of short works inspired by Latino culture for clarinet and piano. Movements I and III are inspired by short stories by two of the most prominent 20th century Spanish language writers while movements II and IV draw from traditional dance forms associated with Spain and Latin America. “Axolotl” by Julio Cortazár is a hallucinogenic work that depicts a man that becomes obsessed with the golden eyes of the small amphibians called axolotl. The clarinet and piano playing swirling hard bop lines that become increasingly fixated upon a recurring rhythmic motive, which ultimately subsumes the entire texture. “En forma de Habeñera” is based on the beautiful vocalise by Ravel and features a particularly melismatic clarinet part against an uncharacteristically wavering ostinato. The title of the third movement translates to “A very old man with enormous wings,” which is among the best-known works by Gabriel García-Márquez. Here, a motive extracted from Renaissance composer Thomas Morley provides a structure that binds together all of the movements. An extremely loose sense of time and meter is pervasive and reflects the unsettling nature of the short story. Finally, “En Forma de Tango (y Mambo)” was meant to be an unfiltered homage to the great tradition of tango, but my love of mambo rhythms could not be entirely suppressed!
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MIDI Demo |