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Clarinet Quintet, opus 155 (2013)

by Thomas Oboe Lee

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1.
Largo 03:42
2.
Allegro 01:30
3.
Interlude 1 ... Presto 01:37
4.
Adagio 03:24
5.
Reprise 01:25
6.
Interlude 2 ... Adagio 01:35
7.
Allegro con moto 02:38

about

Clarinet Quintet, opus 155 is the fourth work I have written for Nancy Braithwaite. The first one was written on the occasion of her sister’s wedding in Vermont. Nancy premiered the solo clarinet piece “Trinca di Chôro” during the wedding ceremony. The second work was “Yo Picasso” (2007) for clarinet, viola, cello and piano. The work was tailor-made for the Arto Ensemble which consisted of two married couples: Oane (piano) and Nancy (clarinet), and Prunella (viola) and Guus (cello). The third work was “Octet in D, opus 144” (2012) scored for clarinet, horn, bassoon, string quartet and double bass. Nancy and her Dutch colleagues premiered the work in a program with the Schubert Octet in Bunnik, a small village west of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Many great composers have tackled the clarinet quintet, most notable Mozart and Brahms. My Quintet is somewhat different in that there are a lot of jazz elements and something new that I have not tackled before: polymeter.

Clarinet Quintet, opus 155 is in seven movements.

The work begins with a clarinet meditation over pianissimo string chords. The music is very static … not unlike the sacred music of Arvo Pärt. This is followed by an allegro that is in 12/8 featuring a pizzicato jazzy bass figure played by the cello. The third movement is my experiment in polymeter. The ostinato pattern is grouped in a metrical scheme of 4, 3, 4 and 5; but the octave melody in the clarinet and first violin unfolds in standard duple meter of 4.

The middle fourth movement is an adagio. This is an example of what I love about music, a soaring melody above slow haunting chords.

A reprise of the jazzy Interlude 1 comes next, but in a slightly different guise with new elements, both melodically and harmonically.

credits

released December 14, 2015

Aleksis Martin, clarinet
Liana Branscome, violin
Luther Warren, violin
Abraham Martin, viola
Allison Drenkow, cello

Music by Thomas Oboe Lee

Recorded in the Fraser Studio @ WGBH
Friday November 13, 2015
Antonio Oliart, audio engineer and editor

© Departed Feathers Music, Inc. - BMI

Photo credit: Thomas Oboe Lee

YouTube link: youtu.be/2fByM3tEAqc

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Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

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