Three Scenes for Solo Clarinet

About

This work was composed in 2016 for clarinetist, Anna McGregor, for performance in Sweden. It recognizes Anna’s marvelous gifts as a performer and the support she has given to my composition over the years through performances and recordings. The first movement sets up a dialogue between different registers of the clarinet, and contrasts the ‘stealthy motif’ (bar 1 etc) with a raucous, bird-like call (bar 12 etc). ‘Bush Scene’ begins in reflective mood, but this is interrupted by a playful and more energetic idea (bars 88-9) – possibly a kea! The reflective mood is restored at the end, but is now fragmented. The third movement is jig-like in character but the regular dance rhythms get distorted by duplets. In the second half of the movement an expressive modal theme makes an appearance, contrasting with the other ideas, before the music accelerates to a quirky end. The three movements are based around shifting pentatonic scale patterns and variations on them, and also aim to exploit various aspects of the clarinet.

-AR