Product Description
Six Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano were composed in March, 2020
for Beethoven 250. They are drawn from Beethoven piano music.
The sources are piano sonatas, bagatelles, and a landler. With my ever
faithful friend and collaborator, London Clarinetist Alison Eales in mind,
I sought to add to the Clarinet repertoire. Having written five pieces over
the past two years in English manner for Clarinet (English Sonatina, English
Autumn, London Concerto, Enchanted London, Postcards from England),
a tip of the hat to the Austrian Titan seemed appropriate.
Beethoven, unlike Mozart before him and Brahms after him, wrote no
solo music for Clarinet. The Trio and scoring in Symphonies are his unique
contributions to the repertoire. Beethoven was a contemporary of Weber
who wrote extensively for solo Clarinet.
With most of the passages being arrangements, my original homage passages frame
the settings and are juxtaposed with them. The tone of the music is one of
homage and recollection with no intent to imitate or parody the great master.
Bagatelles are by nature lighter fare of shorter duration. Hence no long,
authentic
passages with inherent mood swings and elaborations. By adapting the music to
the bagatelle form, it reflects the less ponderous side of the composer.
Although Beethovens music is capable of great depth and despair, the more
transcendent, pastoral, and exuberant moods prevail in these pieces.
The final two movements, Recitative and Rondo, draw on the Waldstein Sonata and
Emperor Piano Concerto, and Sonata Op 2 No3 as well. The Rondo theme is
in Eb, my own, is reminiscent of the Emperor Concerto in it intense yet lilting
motif. Perhaps the listener will hear hints of Weber, a clarinet favorite of
mine, as well in this final movement.
Two movements are scored for Clarinet in A, and four movements for Clarinet in Bb.
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.