Product Description
This seven-minute duet is an expressive showcase for two often-overlooked instruments. The bass clarinet takes on the role of the mourner, while the marimba provides empathy and support. Rich with lyricism, shifting moods, and moments of both sorrow and hope, the work is a moving centerpiece for any recital program.
PROGRAM NOTES
Deep grief. Profound sadness. Feelings so immense that words do them no justice. It is at such junctures that artists often turn to abstract creative endeavors to facilitate process- ing the pain. There is frequently no option. As with the navigation of grief, this music has hopeful and even joyous moments. But despair is never far from the surface.
Throughout the Lament the bass clarinet takes on the role of the mourner. The melodic lines are at times sad, confused, hopeful, prayerful, or even playful. There is a continuous sense of searching, for answers, for reasons, for a resolution that can never be. The marimba offers solace, empathy, compassion, and distraction to the dolorous melody.
A tone of sorrow is established by the marimba with its evocative minor key introduction. The aria begins as the bass clarinet presents a plaintive expression of the main melody. Soon, a rhythmic mood settles in, the bass clarinet yearning and searching for answers, as the marimba offers support with jazz inspired harmonies. There are hints of melancholia, of nostalgia, even a very brief waltz, as the feelings spin freely.
The tale ends as it begins, with a return to the opening sound world. A return to plainly stated sorrow, unadorned, pure, simple. After a final tender plea, bringing the bass clarinet quietly to its highest range, it descends to the depths, where it hoovers, pondering.
PERFORMANCE NOTES
Tempi and phrasing are subject to the performers musical conception. Interpret this as one would Brahms: molto espressivo, and highly romantic.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.