Klarinet Archive - Posting 000015.txt from 1996/12
From: Rick Sowash <73563.3161@-----.COM>
Subj: Composer offers 2 new scores
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 1996 18:21:20 -0500
Klarinet subscribers, salut!
Once again I'm pondering that age-old question: When you cast your bread upon
the waters, does anything come back besides soggy bread?
Continuing my on-going, life-long experiment to see how many friends composers
can make by offering their scores, at no profit, to anybody who wants them, I'm
hereby offering to send any Klarinet subscriber the full score and parts for two
newly available works.
I've notated the scores on computer, using Finale, and they are just beautiful.
Page-turns are all worked out, etc. The scores are entirely
professional-looking and in a loose-leaf format.
1) "SONSA SUITE" (that's pronounced "SOHN-sa")
for Violin, A Clarinet and Piano.
Corinne Cook's North Carolina-based violin-clarinet-piano trio chose for their
ensemble the name "Sonsa" (meaning "sun" in Russian) because each member has
family in Belo-russia. When Ms. Cook asked me to compose a work for the trio to
use on tour in Belo-russia, I asked her to send me some Belo-russian folksongs.
In this suite I give three of them an "American" treatment as a metaphor of
hope, cooperation and understanding in the post-Cold War world. The character
of the piece is generally "sunny," optimistic and even humorous.
I. Moderato - in a minor - serious introduction music goes unexpectedly into a
somewhat Klezmer-esque 'oom-pah' middle section, afterwhich the serious music
returns.
II. Allegretto - a gentle waltz in d minor.
III. Vivo - a ripsnorting scherzo in C major, with a nod toward Prokofiev
IV. Moderato - a lovely slow movement in e minor, with a nod toward Faure (not
a Russian, I know)
V. Theme & Variations in A major, ends with a riotous finale based on the
'Maple Leaf Rag'.
"Sonsa Suite" is about 20 minutes long. It requires good musicians, but not
virtuosos. The full score is 47 pages long, the parts are 13 and 14 pages long
respectively.
Cost: Sonsa Suite is available from me for $8.14 which covers photocopying
costs. You must also cover the postage. No recordings of this work are yet
available.
2) DAWESWOOD SUITE
for Bb Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano ... ("Quartet for the End of Time, move
over!")
This work was composed while I was an artist-in-residence at the beautiful Dawes
Arboretum near Newark, Ohio. Each movement reflects upon a stage in the growth
of plants. The opening movement, "The Bud," is hopeful and perky,
forward-looking, perpetually unfolding into larger versions of itself. The
second movement, "The Blossom," is languid and chastely sensuous (if that's
possible). The last movement, "The Berry," is spicy and pungent, suggesting
native Americans and all the uses they made of berries. There is a hymn-like
tune in this movement as well, a gesture of thanksgiving.
I. The Bud - Allegro - in a minor
II. The Blossom - Andante - in D major
III. The Berry - Vivo - in a minor, then A major
"Daweswood Suite" is about 15 minutes long. It requires good musicians, but not
virtuosos. The full score is 48 pages long, the parts are 9, 11 and 10 pages
long respectively.
Cost: Daweswood Suite is available from me for $8.58 which covers photocopying
costs. You must also cover the postage.
There is a splendid CD recording of this work also available. Gasparo Records
GSCD-285 "Chamber Music with Clarinet by Rick Sowash" played by The Mirecourt
Trio and Craig Olzenak, clarinetist. In addition to the "Daweswood Suite" the
CD also includes "Anecdotes and Reflections" (also scored for clarinet, violin,
cello and piano) and "Street Suite" (duo for violin and clarinet). At record
stores, this CD sells for $14.99. But for you? Such a deal! The musicians who
send for the "Daweswood" sheet music can also get the CD from me for the low,
low price of $10.
So that's my offer. Do I sound like a salesman? Ah, but remember, I'm not
selling anything. It's all offered _at cost_ (which is almost the same as "free
to a good home.")
If you want to know more about me and my work, check out my web site:
http://www2.primax.com/users/~ricks/default.html
You'll find six of my works there which anyone can download for free.
If you want either or both of the above-described scores and/or the CD, please
e-mail me a note telling me which items you want and stating your physical
address. I will then snail-mail the music to you, and enclose an invoice for
the photocopying and postage. If you don't like the music, just mail it back to
me and throw away the invoice. But I think you will like it. Most people do.
Please believe: I write music as a way to make friends, not money. (Lucky me,
I earn enough as an author to be free from having to earn anything as a
composer.) The friends I'd most like to make as a composer are serious
clarinetists playing in ensembles who might want to perform the above scores and
perhaps explore some of the many other scores I've written. There are a variety
of ways in which composers and performing ensembles can connect and I welcome
them all.
Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
