Band Bass Clarinet, Bass
Drum, Bassoon, Bells,
Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2,
Euphonium, Euphonium
T.C., Flute, Flute 2,
Horn, Mallet Percussion,
Oboe, Percussion 1,
Percussion 2, Snare Drum,
Timpani, Trombone,
Trumpet 1, Trumpet 2,
Tuba, alto Saxophone and
more. - Grade 2
SKU:
CF.YPS208
Shlof,
Mayn Kind. Composed
by Larry Clark. Young
Band (YPS). Set of Score
and Parts. With Standard
notation.
8+2+4+4+2+2+5+2+2+4+4+4+6
+3+2+3+1+1+2+6+12 pages.
Duration 4 minutes, 31
seconds. Carl Fischer
Music #YPS208. Published
by Carl Fischer Music
(CF.YPS208).
ISBN
9781491152287. UPC:
680160909780. Key: D
minor.
A stunning
and heart-wrenching
composition based on the
Jewish folk son Shlof,
Mayn Kind. You can
hear the emotional
content pour out of this
piece written in memory
of an outstanding
orchestra director. The
piece beginnings with
original material to set
the tone, followed by
a clarinet solo on the
song. It then develops
through a variety of
different harmonic
presentation before
building to a nice key
change and climatic
moment. The piece ends as
it began, but with a more
hopeful tone. An amazing
piece.
Sleep, My Child
was commissioned by the
Madison Middle School
Band and Orchestra in
Tampa, Florida, and is
dedicated to the memory
of their Director of
Orchestras Kevin Frye.
Director of Bands Chris
Shultz championed the
commissioning of this
piece to honor Kevin
after he passed away in
December 2016. Mr. Frye
was a beloved member of
the staff at Madison
Middle as well as the
music community of Tampa
and the state of
Florida. I was a
personal friend of
Kevin’s. We were
in several musical groups
together when we were
young that were formative
to both of our musical
careers. I also guest
conducted his Madison
Middle School Orchestra
several times over the
past four years. His
musicianship, teaching
skills and love for his
students were
exemplary.When taking on
the challenge of writing
a piece to honor
Kevin’s legacy,
Mr. Shultz and I decided
to try and include
several important aspects
of Kevin’s life
into the piece. Kevin was
proudly Jewish, a
fantastic trumpet player
and loved Jazz. With that
in mind, and after a lot
of research, a Jewish
folk song Shlof, Mayn
Kind was selected as the
basis for the piece, not
to be religious, but to
honor his faith and
heritage. Plus it is a
beautiful song, and I
felt the title reflected
the sentiment I was
looking to express, which
is of someone taking rest
after a long battle with
illness. Thus, a lullaby
seemed appropriate.I also
wanted to incorporate
Jazz into the piece, but
in a concert setting, so
you will hear as the
piece develops, the
harmonies of the folk
song expand into ones
found more commonly in
Jazz compositions. Not
in a far out way, but in
a subtle way to again
honor this part of his
life. For example the
climactic moment of the
piece at the fermata in
m. 57 is a Dbmaj9#11
chord. It appropriately
give the piece the angst
that I was looking for at
this moment in the piece,
while honoring the
importance of Jazz in
Kevin’s musical
life.The piece was also
conceived to include both
the Madison band and
orchestra in the
performance at the
premiere. I wanted the
pieces to work separately
by the band and
separately by the
orchestra, but I also
wanted them to be able to
play the piece together
to honor Kevin.The piece
begins with original
material designed to set
the mood of the piece
with a tempo/style
marking of pensive, but
also as material that I
used as connective
musical tissue between
statements of the folk
song. After this
introduction, the folk
song is presented by a
solo violin (or clarinet)
with orchestral
accompaniment in a simple
straight forward
presentation of the song.
This is followed by a
woodwind section
statement of the folk
song accompanied by muted
trumpets. During this
presentation the harmony
starts to expand with
more color notes in the
chords. The low brass are
added half way through
this statement to add
depth and lushness.The
introductory material
returns, but with some
angry hits in the lower
voices. This leads to a
full ensemble state of
new material that is used
to transition to the
climax of the piece, and
to build tension. After
the build, the piece
modulates to a shortened
statement of the folk
song with more advanced
harmonies and an active
counter line in the
violas, horns, saxes and
first clarinets to
further build the
tension. This tension
is released at the
fermata in m. 57, as
mentioned above. After a
thoughtful pause, the
piece concludes with a
completion of the folk
song again with a solo
violin (or clarinet)
followed by a return of
the introductory material
to tie the piece
together. The piece ends
hopeful, with a solo
trumpet (Kevin’s
instrument) that is
dissonant at first, but
then resolves as if to
say - everything will be
OK! It has been my
distinct honor to have
been asked to write this
piece in Kevin’s
memory! I hope that in
some small way the piece
helps to bring comfort to
his family, students,
colleagues and to all
those that knew
him!–Larry
ClarkLakeland, FLÂ
2017.