Clarinet Quintet - 2023 duration 22 minutes 1. Fast, boisterous 2. Fleeting, transient 3. Alla Siciliana - simple, melancholy 4. Fast, stomping

2023 was dominated by revisions to my (currently) six symphonies. Having stalled in the early stages of a seventh, I starting dabbling witha clarinet quintet (after all there is so little competition...). It ended up taking almost a year to write, with further interruptions to write parts for my Gran Partita, and in working with pianist Michael Bell on recording my Steps Vol. 8 piano cycle.

The result was a four movement work which are largely characterised by animated energy. The first is generally bright and boisterous, but with diversions romantic and dancing. The second is a shadowy, scurrying, transient scherzo with swirling cascades of string semiquavers and fragments of more melodic material peeping out and being subsumed. There follows a melancholy plaint in the form of a siciliana with aching, polytonal strands, surrounding a central litling, wistful dance. The finale is a flat-footed "stomp" with much snap pizzicato and heavy rhythms.

PLEASE READ: THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC DOMAIN WORK.. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. PRINTED COPIES ARE FOR EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY 

SCORE   clarinet, violin 1, violin 2, viola, 'cello

This work is unperformed. The below are merely computer mp3s and to be taken as a guide only.