When the music begins again at 2:00, we’re in a very different mood. The music stops suddenly, with a long pause before moving into the next section. But we get just a glimpse of that, because he immediately goes back to the thematic material we’d heard at the beginning of the piece (1:44-1:56). Poulenc lets the piano have a bit of the bouncy theme at 1:39, followed by the light theme in the clarinet at 1:43. He draws out the held note in the clarinet, giving the piano some time to play, then repeats it with a modified ending (1:25-1:39). But this time, he expands the part of the theme we heard back at 0:40-0:47. We return almost immediately to the bouncy theme (1:28). I feel this part is a little bit of light shining into the window it sounds a bit like a bird song to me.
It’s a new theme, but it doesn’t last very long. We get just the briefest of breaks before launching into the next theme at 1:10. We go back and forth between bouncy and straight tempos for a while, with partial quotes of the bouncy theme finishing this section (clarinet partial quote at 1:04 piano quote right after that at 1:07). He makes some minor changes each time, but the overall theme is identifiable. Pay attention at 0:33-0:40, as Poulenc gets a lot of mileage out of that theme. Poulenc introduces a new rhythm at 0:30, giving the theme a bit of a bounce. Yet it is still a theme and, to my ears, is quite melodic once you get used to it. It doesn’t feel nearly as centered in a key as a piece like Festive Overture does. This theme is a bit different than what we’ve heard so far on the blog. At 0:17, we get a theme that’s long and smooth in the clarinet, with a smooth yet pulsing accompaniment in the piano. After a loud burst at 0:12, both the piano and clarinet calm down and take a breath. We start off with a bang, the clarinet scurrying around and the piano interjecting some statements here and there. This first movement is titled “Allegro Tristamente“ allegro means “fast” and tristamente means “sad”.
Today we’ll discuss just the first movement I’ll discuss the second and third in future posts. The sonata has three movements in the traditional fast-slow-fast form. The Sonata for Clarinet and Piano was dedicated à la mémoire de Arthur Honegger (“to the memory of Arthur Honegger”). He had planned to write solo pieces for all of the woodwinds, but only completed works for clarinet, oboe, flute, and horn. He wrote a variety of works: instrumental sonatas, choral works, ballet music, etc. Is it a case of saving the best for last, or that writing a great clarinet work kills you? I guess we’ll never know.įrancis Poulenc (1899-1963) was a French composer who was part of a group of musicians and composers nicknamed “Les Six”.
622) were also written shortly before the respective composers’ deaths. 1 & 2) and Mozart’s clarinet concerto (K.
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