Chamber Music Clarinet,
Piano, alto Saxophone
SKU: PR.114419720
Baroque. Composed
by Carter Pann. Set of
Score and Parts. 36+12+12
pages. Duration 16
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-41972.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114419720).
ISBN
9781491134863. UPC:
680160685790.
In a
musical style strongly
influenced by (and
occasionally parodying)
American popular music,
the subtitle
“Baroque†may
seem a puzzle at first.
It is also the key to
Pann’s approach in
composing for multiple
wind soloists and
ensemble. With
Bach’s
Brandenburgs in the
rear-view mirror, Pann
has created a glorious
hybrid of inspirations
with intricate
counterpoint, cadenzas,
beautiful slow textures,
and wild rides, creating
a 16-minute,
fast-slow-fast concerto
grosso. The published
piano reduction is fully
practical for live
performance.
My Double
Concerto (subtitled
“Baroqueâ€)
from 2018 posed an
immediate challenge which
gave me some real
trepidation as a
composer. The two solo
instruments, Clarinet and
Alto Saxophone, are quite
varied in their timbral
characteristics yet they
have nearly identical
ranges. I gave many hours
of thought to solving
this challenge and
eventually settled on an
obvious mission: make
each instrument as
independent from the
other as possible.
Explore opposite areas of
each range
simultaneously. Set very
different contours
against one another in
the solo parts. These
kinds of things.I. Bach
in the Fifties sets the
soloists up as competing
crooners. I wanted to
write a 1950s-style teen
idol tune, complete with
electric organ, and
writing the music I
imagined J.S. Bach might
tend towards if he was
writing for The Platters
or Perry Como. This first
movement also presents
within it a traditional
concerto-style cadenza
for both soloists
together.II. Desert Arias
should transport the
listener to an arid,
barren land over which a
mirage of canons
emerge.III.
Pronouncements is set in
the style of a baroque
concerto’s final
movement. Nuance is
forfeited on behalf of
straight-ahead melodic
dueling. Stravinsky
lingers like a ghost
behind this finale.
The Platters
