University Musical Society - Ann Arbor District Library

from limitations) managed to put his unmistakable
personal stamp on the piece. The rhythmical
expansions and contractions in mixed meter recall
such works as the earlier Rite of Spring and the
later Symphonies of Wind Instruments. Stravinsky
combined these rhythmic maneuvers with a lyrical
exploration of the clarinet's sensuous lower register.
The second piece is the only instance in Stravinsky's
entire output to dispense with barlines. Eric
Walter White, in his detailed survey of Stravinsky's
works, described this movement as being "in an
improvisatory vein, with fast-flowing arpeggios
and arabesques, framing a slower, quieter, lower-
pitched middle section." The last piece is again a
study in mixed meters, but this time the tempo is
fast, and the action takes place predominantly in
the instrument's shrill upper register.
Stravinsky dedicated this work to Werner Re-
inhart, a Swiss industrialist and amateur clarinetist
who sponsored L'histoire du soldat in 1918.
French Suite No. 5, BWV 816
(for two clarinets and basset horn) (1723)
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Arr. Rainer Schottstadt
Born March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany
Died July 28, 1750 in Leipzig
J.S. Bach's musical thinking was predominantly
contrapuntal, even when he was writing in the
dance forms of his day. He may well be writing
melodies with accompanying harmonies for a
keyboard instrument, but he still leads the top,
middle, and bottom voices as though intended
for different players. Therefore, a work like the
French Suite No. 5 lends itself surprisingly well
for arrangement as an ensemble piece. Such a
performance stresses the independence of the
individual voices, which is the main idea behind the
art of counterpoint.
Like all the French suites, No. 5 begins with an
"Allemande" in which the dance character is much
attenuated, with the emphasis on a continuous
motion in 16th-notes. The same kind of motion
is typical of the "Courante" as well, but now
the tempo is faster and the 3/4 meter conveys a
stronger dance feel. The "Sarabande" is a slow
movement in 3/4 meter, made eminently danceable
by the symmetrical structure of the musical phrases.
The "Gavotte" and the "Bourree" are both fairly
straightforward fast dances in duple meter, but the
UMS Sabine Meyer and the Trio di Clarone
next movement, the "Loure," is again slow, and
introduces actual contrapuntal imitation for the
first time in the suite. The "Loure" is, in essence,
a slow form of the gigue, and is here followed by
a fast gigue which, in fact, is the last movement
of every Baroque suite. The present "Gigue" takes
the form of a full-fledged fugue in three parts, or
rather two fugues, because the second half of the
piece is really a new fugue where the theme of the
first fugue is inverted (that is, turned upside down,
with ascending intervals becoming descending and
vice versa). Contrapuntal writing, then, gradually
takes over the entire suite.
Divertimento I for three basset horns,
K. 439b (1783-88)
Mozart
There are a total of 25 short pieces for two clarinets
and basset horn that Mozart composed during the
final decade of his life. It was probably the publish­
er, Nikolaus Simrock in Bonn, who grouped them
together in five "serenades," each containing
five movements. (Another source calls the works
"divertimentos," the title chosen by the modern
editors of the pieces.) The movement sequence is
fast-minuet-slow-minuet-fast; each movement is
fairly short in duration and extremely simple in tex­
ture. Yet even when he wrote such relatively unas­
suming miniatures, Mozart gave ample evidence of
his incomparable mastery.
Duet for Two Clarinets in C Major, Wq.
142 (H. 636) (unknown composition date)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Born March 8, 1714 in Weimar, Germany
Died December 14, 1788 in Hamburg
Credit for the invention of the modern clarinet
usually goes to Johann Christoph Denner
(1655-1707), who introduced some substantial
improvements upon the Baroque chalumeau.
Composers soon adopted the new member of
the woodwind family; most notable from the
Baroque era are the concertos by Antonio Vivaldi.
Although J. S. Bach is not known to have used the
instrument, Handel occasionally did. And Bach's
second son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, one of the most
original and forward-looking composers of his
generation, wrote several sonatas and other works
for clarinet.