Sonata for Bb Clarinet and Piano, Op. 143 (2022)

Program Notes:

This piece is the ninth in my series of sonatas for clarinets and piano (following alto clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, basset horn, Ab clarinet, contrabass clarinet, bass clarinet, Eb clarinet, and A clarinet), in an effort to expand the serious professional repertoire for all clarinets.

I wanted to continue my tradition of writing a clarinet sonata over winter break, but due to various travel plans, my winter break was compressed to a single week this year. I'd had success writing a series of short movements in prior pieces (Factorimuziek comes to mind) so I thought that could be a good format. Each vignette explores a different mode of the major scale - the pitch collection remains the same throughout, but tonic slowly rises until it returns to where it started in the final movement.