CHAMBER CONCERTO

Composed: 1994
Commission:  Women Composers Orchestra
Premiere: Daniel Silver, clarinet, Women Composers Orchestra Chamber Concert Baltimore, MD, February 6, 1994
Duration: 12 minutes
Instrumentation:  solo clarinet, percussion, piano

   PROGRAM NOTES

 I.  Prelude
 II.  Vivace Ritmico

Chamber Concerto is a small chamber version of the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra which was composed in 1994 for Richard Stoltzman.  In the Prelude, the solo clarinet floats above or below, or winds around and through accompanying sonorities that are sometimes warm, singing and sparkling, and sometimes languid, hazy clouds of sound.  An ascending motif begins in the clarinet and occurs frequently throughout, drifting upward at the final cadence. 

The Peace and tranquility of the Prelude changes drastically when all caution lets loose in the light-hearted, exuberant and quite raucous Vivace Ritmico. Elements of jazz and the mood of a lively party combine with repetitive rhythmic patterns, changing meters, playful exchanges and comic sounds.