Serenade for Clarinet and Band - SMC379 | Partitions

"Serenade for Clarinet and Band" is one of a group of three pieces for solo wind instruments and band which were commissioned by the G. LeBlanc Corporation in 1955, as performance vehicles for their artist/clincians (the other two being the "ode for Trumpet" and the "Ballade for Alto Saxophone"). The "Serenade for Clarinet and Band" was written for Robert E. Lowry, at that time Direcor of Bands at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa where the first performance under the composer's direction, with Mr. Lowry as solist and the Morningside College Band, was given in 1958.

In the early years of the 20th century, a great deal of research in the field of folk music of the various Indian nations was undertaken by musicologists from the Library of Congress and other institutions, including that of the Teton Sioux, whose territory included almost all of what is now Iowa. A collection of such material specifically attributed to this people was published, which the composer discovered while researching the background for this work, as a result of his desire to create a piece based on whatever themes, motives or fragements might be available. Three or four such short phrases, identified with various activities of Sioux life, became the basis for this composition.

Set in the form of a freely developing lyrical Idyl in variation form involving an almost continuous musical development, the solo clarinet line together with a constantly shifting harmonic background paint a pastoral scene that suggests an overall three-part song form. This is perhaps the most effective way to present such music to present day audiences, as well as providing a highly gratifying vehicle for a gifted soloist.