Edward Smaldone

Clarinet and Wind Orchestra cl solo, picc, fl, ob, Eb cl, 2 Bb Cl, bcl, cbcl, bsn, 4 hn, 2 cnt, 3 tpt, 3 tbn, 3 tba, 2 ten hn (or bar hn), euph, timp, 4 perc

Composer's Notes:

This work was composed primarily in 2019, commissioned by Søren-Filip Brix Hansen and Den Kongelige Livgardes Musikkorps. First performance, June 5, 2021 at Stærekassenin, at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Giordano Bellincampi conducting. (Premiere postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

The work is subtitled "Murmurations" which refers to the flight path of a flock of starlings, swirling in the sky. In a sense, the solo clarinet is a "solo bird" and the other members of the orchestra "flow" and "flock" in "murmuration" around and in reaction to the flights the soloist takes. The work is inspired by the flowing and fearless musicality which is my friend Søren-filip Hansen.

Throughout the composition, I had his beautiful tone (in every register) and his expressive, rhythmic sense in my ear. Like a bird leading a flock, his clarinet leads this large (and somewhat unweildy) ensemble in flight.