Klarinet Archive - Posting 000073.txt from 2005/06

From: Bear Woodson <bearwoodson@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Clarinet Concerto progress
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 2005 17:43:16 -0400

Hello, Klarinet List.

The other night I finished the Second Movement
of my new Clarinet Concerto, which I'm writing for
Professor Joze Kotar of Slovenia.

"Concerto for [Bb] Clarinet and Orchestra"
(month? 2005, 3 mvts., ??:??)

I Allegretto 13' 00"
(The Cadenza is about 1' 35".)
II Lullaby - Fugato - Lullaby 8' 32"
III Rondo ?' ??"
Total Time (so far): 21' 32"

The First Movement was begun on May 17 to June
2002 and completed from March 23 to April 20,
2005. (He just received the Piano Reduction of the
First Movement in the mail.) The Second Movement
was completed on June 1, 2005.

Similar to what Hindemith did in the middle
movement of his "Der Schwanendreher" Viola
Concerto, the First Lullaby is for just the Harp and
Clarinet alone. The Fugato involves the whole
orchestra. The Second Lullaby again uses the Harp
as a co-soloist with the Clarinet, but is in a different
'key' (so to speak), and with the quiet accompaniment
of Soli Strings (2 violins, viola, cello and double
bass) and sometimes with the woodwinds (pairs of
flutes, oboes and bassoons). I even include the
glockenspiel and "Marc Tree" for an occasional
touch of 'magic'.

(A "Marc Tree" is a "set of hanging metal tubes,
each being a little longer than the next". They hang
side-by-side, for a total of 20 to 40, or more of them.
The percussionist moves his hand across them, to
yield a quiet 'magical' zing, and they are now
common to Rock Bands, TV and Film Scores. In
fact I hear them in some TV commercials. It should
add to the tenderness of the Second Lullaby for the
Clarinet and Harp.)

I'm already busy trying to perfect the Opening
Theme of the Third Movement, which will likely
be an Evolving Rondo Form. Although academics
are most impressed by the intellect of my Counter-
point (and being the only person in history to have
invented Nine New Categories of Fugues), the
hardest challenge I face in each work is Perfecting
the Main Themes. I may spend days, weeks or
months, humming ideas to myself, (seeing the
printed melody in my imagination), making changes
over and over, until the Theme is the best that it
should be. (I will delay writing a work for years
sometimes, until its Themes have been perfected,
meanwhile I write several other works.)

In Mozart's time (actually going all the way back
to Monteverdi's time and earlier) it was common for
the performer to Embellish the Theme differently
each time it returned. But some composers Write
Out those Embellishments, especially when they
take the melody in a different direction. I've done
that in a number of works, especially Rondos, and
am planning on doing that in this Rondo. It may
never appear the same way twice, and may go off in
different melodic directions each time. As long as
it's lyrical, the public doesn't mind; and as long as
it's clever, the scholars will still be impressed.

Meanwhile I'm still having these damned diabetic
black-outs. (I just woke up from another one a few
hours ago.) I gotta get back to work.

Bear Woodson
Composer in Tucson, Arizona, USA

Home: 520 - 881 - 2558
"Bear Woodson" <bearwoodson@-----.net>

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