JAMES GRANT - Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Strings

~ Greetings to Bass Clarinetists ~
June, 2005

As many of you know, William Helmers commissioned my Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Strings last year. In the fall of 2004, he performed the work twice with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and once with the Milwuakee Chamber Orchestra. A review of Bill's performance with the MCO can be read here:

| REVIEW |

I'm happy to report that Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel music reviewer Tom Strini also nominated Bill as 2004 Milwaukee Musician of the Year—you can read about that here:

| WILLIAM HELMERS VOTED FOR MILWAUKEE MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR |

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PDF FILES—free download:

By beginning playback, you agree not to download the file, disseminate it, or broadcast it in any way.

(But please forward to interested parties a link to this page!)

(Since the premiere, I've "thinned out" the solo line a bit in Mvt. I, mm. 100-106; and in Mvt. III, I've cut mm. 119-128—these changes are not reflected in the PDF scores or in the MP3 recording.)

In the fall of 1998, I was in attendance at the University of Indianapolis New Music Festival and had the opportunity to meet clarinetist William Helmers. After one of his performances with the featured new music ensemble, Present Music, Bill inquired whether I had any published compositions for clarinet. I sent him several works and was honored when he chose to include two of them on his recent (and extraordinary) CD, Recitative & Frenzy (Equilibrium Records 50).

As Bill became familiar with my music, he suggested the idea of my composing a concerto that would feature the bass clarinet, the “low” and oft-neglected auxiliary instrument in the orchestral clarinet section. Underscoring his commitment to new music and to living composers, Bill has commissioned Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Strings to perform this season with both the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. The concerto is dedicated to Bill, with the greatest respect and thanks.

The 15-minute concerto is presented in a conventional three-movement architecture (fast – slow – fast). Throughout the piece, in true concerto fashion, the soloist explores the instrument’s capabilities while facing expressive and technical challenges not usually associated with the bass clarinet. Meanwhile, the string orchestra, not content to hum away quietly in the background, does its share of heavy-lifting as it weaves a quirky, energetic, and eccentric fabric around the solo line.

Each of the three movements reflects a “state of being” familiar to us all: Levity bubbles over with gregarious enthusiasm; Loss throbs with swells of poignancy, grief, and pain; and Emphasis certainly makes its point.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________