Suite for clarinet and cello

Abstract

The Suite for clarinet and cello was the second of three commissions from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra during my year as their composer in residence in 2019. On the surface, it seems an odd commission from a symphony orchestra, but given the other two works were for large orchestral forces I approached this one with a sense of relief. But it wasn't that easy of course. Going from a page of staves with endless possibilities of colouration and timbre to 2 single lines. was one of the biggest challenges I've faced. The piece started and failed many times before by chance I heard a March by Prokofiev for solo piano, and it seemed all was good from then. The first mvt is in his honour - one of the greatest composers in the 20th century, he was a master of all forms and the simplicity of his language hit a real vein of inspiration for me in this pithy duet. All of the movements came after hearing something randomly on the radio or doing random searches on YouTube. the second mvt was inspired by a chance hearing of the 3rd movement of The Planets. Mvt 3, a tribute to our great composer, Peter Sculthorpe - who helped us all by gaining recognition for Australian composers world-wide. This mvt contains a few of his signature motifs and ideas. And the fourth, after hearing a rehearsal of the Francaix String Trio, I was filled with thoughts of the Vaudeville years. On Youtube I found Tex Glanville a master of rope twirling. The music in some way is intended to capture the spirit of him and the crazy Vaudeville years. The Suite was given its official premiere by Phillip Arkinstall and Rachel Tobin of the MSO in the Eugene Goosens Hall in June 2019. Since that time, the piece has been played over a dozen times throughout Australia. The writing of this piece was very important for me, as in 2020 during lockdown, I wrote 70 miniatures in 70 days mainly for duos of people stuck in isolation together. The Suite, gave me the head start in how to write duos.