I decided to start my blog about what I consider my first “presentable” piece, my Clarinet Quintet from my first year in graduate school (and slightly before that). I had graduated from Ithaca College in 1992 with a BM in composition, and wrote four years’ worth of mostly crappy music that will never see the light of day. But I felt differently about this piece, even after sketching the first movement or so when I was living in Ithaca post-graduation, working graveyard shift at Kinko’s Copies in Collegetown, and being generally confused about life.
The first movement is inspired in part by the pipe organ and Olivier Messiaen, a composer whose work I admire to this day. I had taken a year of pipe organ lessons during college, and this experience informed my approach to orchestrating the first movement, treating the ensemble like a pipe organ registration. The end result is…somewhat successful in hindsight but the melodic line in the music is strong. Link for listening below.
I was accepted into the graduate composition program at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the spring of 1993, getting the call from Donald Erb sometime in March. One of my former teachers, Peter Rothbart at Ithaca, told me that he “was the best composition teacher” he had ever studied with. I took Peter’s advice, auditioning for Dr. Erb on Valentine’s Day 1993 in Cleveland. I now live here, have been married for almost 25 years, and have two wonderful children who are now adults (or close to it). I have to agree with Peter’s assessment, Dr. Erb was an amazing teacher and I still miss him, every day.
I moved to Cleveland two months later, toward the end of May 1993. I first took residence in a house with three other people on E. 115 Street in Cleveland, and transferred to the Kinko’s in University Circle, which was within walking distance of my home. I didn’t have a license at that time, but one of my housemates (Molly Tripp) would eventually teach me how to drive. I got my license using her car, and am grateful for her generosity to this day! I wrote her a simple piano piece to say thanks, I hope she didn’t burn the manuscript. :)
During the summer of 1993 I began sketches for the second movement of this piece, amongst the chaos of moving to a new city, switching jobs, and being overwhelmed by the city environment as a whole. I grew up in a rural environment then attended college in a small town, so living in a big city with no car was a huge adjustment. My coworkers at Kinko’s would constantly rib me about being a hick.
The second movement is inspired somewhat by the music of King Crimson, in particular the song “21st Century Schizoid Man.” I borrowed parts of the song and subtly wove them into the second movement. I kept the character established in the opening Prelude while upping the tempo and letting the rhythm in the musical content shine.
I remember bringing the first two movements to Dr. Erb during lessons, and he really didn’t say much about them. But we did talk about maybe one or two more movements for the piece, and I began those in earnest in my first semester of graduate school in fall 1993. I was also working full-time at Kinko’s as a weekend shift supervisor. This really took a toll on me, as a full class schedule plus working 45 - 50 hours a week became unmanageable very quickly. I stepped away from my supervisor duties halfway through my first semester, even though it would completely upend my finances. But one very good thing that came out of my working at Kinko’s was that I met my future wife Deby there. She was one of my fellow co-workers and we started dating towards the end of my first semester of graduate school. She’s not a musician, she’s the sane and practical member of the household (true story). I’m so thankful that I have a life partner who puts up with my quirky personality!
Movements three and four were finished towards the end of the first semester, with the final movement being an homage to Bartok. I use the strumming viola idea that he used in some of his string quartets as the nucleus for the final movement. But I also use the Finale as a recapitulation, incorporating moments from the first three movements into the piece, over a pulsating texture. The third movement is a cadenza for the clarinet, with the strings chasing the clarinet player as he shows off. Harmonies in the third movement are consistent with those in the previous sections of the piece.
The performance here was recorded in February 1994, on a New Music Ensemble concert presented at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ben Freimuth was the clarinet soloist and he absolutely crushes it! I had never worked with a musician who so thoroughly nailed a piece that I had composed, it was such a treat to work with him. Unfortunately I don’t have the names of the other musicians who performed on the concert. I know Dave Mergan was the cellist but I lost the recital program. I’d love to get the names of the other musicians, so if you are reading this and you happen to know the answer, feel free to email me via the Contact portion of the website or find me on Facebook!