Music for Clarinet
Clarinet Quartet | A three-movement work which is clearly influenced by elements of American popular music, particularly big-band swing, but nevertheless keeps itself well within the “classical” camp. It is a delightful piece which requires excellent performers. It is filled with close harmonies and has many technical passages which challenge each of the four layers. Bennett's evocation of fife and drum in the final march is both inventive and witty, a description which fits the entire work. | $45.95 | Click Here For More Details Or To Purchase. | |
Sonata for B♭ Clarinet and PianoPaul Mack Somers (composer) | The harmony uses doubly inflected thirds, which come off like blue notes. At the time of its composition I was both a traditional jazz pianist and a non-jazz composer, so I suppose it should be no surprise that the two worlds crossed paths in this piece. However, I find far more F. J. Haydn than W. C. Handy in the music. | $30.00 | Click Here For More Details Or To Purchase. | |
An Arch of Miniatures | The idea of writing a set of miniatures came from teaching an undergraduate class in music appreciation for non-music majors. The students expressed dismay when I announced that the next example I’d play was seven minutes long. They insisted that three minutes was about their limit. I thought I’d try to write some movements which would fit a modern undergrad’s attention span, yet use techniques which would likely be unfamiliar in the pop-music world. | $43.50 | Click Here For More Details Or To Purchase. | |
Meditation on Jacob Wrestling | The Clarinet, March 2020, p. 6: "Grounded in tonality, Somers achieves stunning harmonic effects by horizontal layering, but also by willingness to employ vertical sonorities that are chosen for being the desired sound at that moment, without regard for others’ established rules. This is a singular work of both rhythmic and expressive vitality. Highly recommended." – Gregory Barrett | $33.00 | Click Here For More Details Or To Purchase. |