A few words from Rob Keeley:

There are surprisingly few chamber works featuring the bass clarinet, and I wrote this concentrated single movement 10 minute piece at Victoria Samek’s request: it is also dedicated to her. A majestic ‘French overture’ opening is followed by faster ‘spectral’ music, the various interlocking sessions culminating in a rather nasty Scherzo loosely based on the ‘Dies Irae’ motif.

I have recently been inspired to compose a large number of works for clarinets in various combinations, largely as a result of his extremely happy and fruitful collaboration with Victoria Samek. Being influenced as much by music of the past as much as the present, above all in re-thinking classical forms and procedures in modern terms, I am happier composing for relatively small-scale forces and in more modest durations. Mozart, Poulenc and Stravinsky, Tippett, Berio and Messiaen, Haydn and Donatoni are all major inspirations: music as entertainment on many levels, the aim to balance clarity and complexity, wit and expressivity, the pleasures of both surprise and of the expected.

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June Emerson: Bass Clarinet and String Quartet (including score)

Scoring: Bass Clarinet and String Quartet
Standard: Advanced

Duration: 10.05