Faye-Ellen Silverman
Intertwining Clarinets
Year: 2020
Duration (in minutes): 7'
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players
Instruments: clarinet
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
Publisher website: https://www.subitomusic.com/
Purchase score URL: https://www.subitomusic.com/shop/
Description: Clarinet was my second instrument, after piano. I studied clarinet for several years with the renowned clarinetist Harold Freeman. While in school I played clarinet in orchestras and bands, including the Columbia University band when it played Carnegie Hall. So it was a pleasure to be asked to write for the instrument by Composers Concordance, who were planning a concert called Clarinet Motion. I chose to create a clarinet duo. The work is in three short movements – Intermixing, Intertwined, and Dancing Together. My compositions are usually concerned with timbre and with uses of melody and melodic fragments. In addition, several of my works refer to my Jewish heritage. Intermixing makes use of the contrasting ranges of the clarinet, whose colors change so profoundly in the low, middle, and high ranges. The opening pitches of E, F and A and their intervallic structure pervade the movement, sometimes appearing in their original and sometimes changing to s a major second and/or a minor third. The opening intervals also create themes for the later movements. Intertwined has the clarinets constantly changing places. The parts climb together in range and volume, then descend, although not going quite as low as where they started. The ranges cross, like intertwined fingers. The last movement refers to klezmer clarinet and the tradition of Jewish dance as a celebration. As the dance gets underway, the piece accelerates to express the joy of dancing.