Developing Solo and Chamber Repertoire for the E-flat Clarinet by Australian Composers

Abstract

This research project seeks to actively develop solo and chamber music repertoire for the E- flat clarinet by Australian composers. To achieve this the researcher instigated the formation of six new works written by notable and lesser-known emerging Australian composers currently working or studying in Australia. It is the intention that this research will gain greater insight into how selected contemporary Australian composers write for the E-flat clarinet. Australian composers Paul Dean, Peter de Jager, Paul Kopetz and Matthew Laing all very generously supported the project by providing new compositions. In addition to this, and in an attempt to generate a greater national awareness, the project created a national composition competition for emerging tertiary composers, sponsored by the Queensland Clarinet and Saxophone Society. With the addition of a composition written by the researcher, the initiative culminated in a performance at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, Australia on the 31st of November 2014. The information presented in this research document outlines insights and thoughts acquired from the works created and the researcher’s collaboration with each composer, performance preparations and personal discoveries, semi-structured interviews, the direction of a national composition competition and general project co-ordination. This project is merely a starting point for what the researcher intends to build upon well into the future, providing a healthy resource of music for E-flat clarinet enthusiasts to draw upon pedagogically and on the concert platform.