Solo de Concours (2020)

Instrumentation: Bb Clarinet & Piano

Difficulty: Medium Advanced

Duration: 5’30”

Performance Materials: $15.00

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My Solo de Concours was written this year for the 2nd annual Fred Fox School of Music Morceau de concours; a woodwind competition modeled after the Paris Conservatory’s historic Premiere Prix. Unfortunately, due to the the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down schools the contest did not take place as initially planned. Instead, it became a smaller studio-wide competition where the performers would submit a recording of themselves playing alongside a MIDI mockup of the accompaniment instead of a live pianist.

As a clarinetist, much of the repertoire I play comes from the Paris Conservatory competition; staples of the repertoire such as Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsody and Andre Messager’s and Henri Rabaud’s Solo de Concours were written for this competition. In this piece, I pay homage to the Paris tradition through the structure. It is very sectional, and each section asks a different challenge of the player: Lyricism, technical proficiency, and rhythmic integrity. However, the harmonic and melodic characteristics of the piece are very distinctly my own. When I first showed it to my professor, Dr. Kay He, her first comment was “This is very you.”

I am happy with how the piece turned out, and I am pleased to offer it even though the life I had envisioned for it did not pan out exactly as planned!

Audio - Charles du Preez, Clarinet