The Duet for Clarinet and Piano is my most significant composition to date and also my first substantial instrumental piece. It is not merely a clarinet piece with piano accompaniment, but a true duet with a significant, meaningful piano part. This is due to me being a pianist and enjoying interesting piano parts, rather than simple, unimportant accompaniments. The result is a piece that both the pianist and clarinetist will be challenged by, and will hopefully enjoy playing.
	My instrumental writing focuses on thematic development to progress the music. Almost every theme you hear in the piece will be reused and approached in a different way throughout the piece. Additionally, some fragments of the themes are taken and used motivicly to further relate the various sections of the music.
	The interval of a falling fourth is an important motive in the piece. Introduced by the clarinet as the first two notes of the piece, it appears in various ways, one of the most obvious being its frequent usage in the pianos accompaniment, which is then developed into a motive of its own. Also, in the choral introduced by solo piano, the three opening notes of the melody could be considered merely an alteration of the falling fourth motive.
	Fourths play another significant role in this piece in that they are a foundation of much of the harmony. My harmonic language is a mixture of both tertiary and quartal/quintal harmonies. It is my opinion that to rely merely on quartal/quintal chords would be akin to writing a piece with merely major seventh chords. It would be greatly limiting the expression of the piece. Similarly, I choose to use a variety of chords, and feel that the mixture of tertiary and quartal/quintal only serves to highlight the uniqueness of both types of harmonies.

This was from my senior recital on December 2, 2012

Duet for Clarinet and Piano

I'm a pianist, music teacher, and fledgling composer who is now trying to use my gift for the Lord. You'll find recordings of me playing various pieces throughout my past educational process as well as recordings of performances of my works

Duet for Clarinet and Piano

EptonicTermplor

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