David Mecionis

2 Clarinets in B-Flat

Composer's Note:

Table Canon for Two Clarinetists, Nº2 (2020) is the second table canon written for clarinetists Guido Arbonelli and Natalia Benedetti. The pitch content of this piece is based on the same nine-tone row that was used in Table Canon for Two Clarinetists, Nº1. Unlike in Nº1, the tonal palette of this table canon is deliberately confined by the strict use of only four similar-sounding versions of the multiplicatively-transformed row, one in each of the possible directions of reading (standard, retrograde, inverted, and retrograde-inverted). The whole manner and rhythm of the piece is influenced by, and aligned with, this decision to limit and simplify. The score is marked "in a steady tempo, as if it were a Largo" and "always comfortable and simple." The result is a rather olden-style sound for the majority of the piece, with the exception of a modo quasi meccanico section in the middle which is meant to be suggestive of electronic sequencer music.