Quintet for clarinet and strings is a piece of chamber music by the American composer
Douglas Moore
Douglas Stuart Moore (August 10, 1893 – July 25, 1969) was an American composer, songwriter, organist, pianist, conductor, educator, actor, and author. A composer who mainly wrote works with an American subject, his music is generally charact ...
.
Background
In 1946, the
Juilliard School of Music
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
requested from Moore a chamber piece to be performed at a school concert the following year.
He worked at and finished the piece during the summer of 1946 at his home in
Cutchogue
Cutchogue ( ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the North Fork (Long Island), North Fork of Long Island's East End (Long Isla ...
. The premiere was given the following year.
It was first performed on May 6, 1947 by the Juilliard String Quartet, Harry Noble soloist.
Structure and Analysis
The work is in traditional
sonata form
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...
and consists of four movements
#''
Allegro risoluto''
#''
Andante comodo''
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Adagio recitativo''
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Allegro ritmico''
The first movement is the most dynamic and is chiefly dominated by a tensely rhythmic figure achieved by a
triplet laid over a
duplet
In music, a tuplet (also irrational rhythm or groupings, artificial division or groupings, abnormal divisions, irregular rhythm, gruppetto, extra-metric groupings, or, rarely, contrametric rhythm) is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat i ...
. This duality of rhythm becomes most obvious when the two components are handled by different instruments, but the combination and tension that is achieved gives this movement its impetus
The second movement is considerably relaxed in mood and is introduced by a melodic figure on violin which becomes the contrapuntal background to the main theme, first given by clarinet. The theme subsequently continues throughout the piece.
The third movement is the shortest movement of the quintet, it commences with a brooding
soliloquy
A soliloquy (, from Latin ''solo'' "to oneself" + ''loquor'' "I talk", plural ''soliloquies'') is a monologue addressed to oneself, thoughts spoken out loud without addressing another.
Soliloquies are used as a device in drama to let a character ...
on clarinet accompanied by the viola which is the picked up by the remaining strings and is allowed to fade out.
The finale consists of a robust, dancing and peasant-like refrain of shifting rhythm which alternates in the fashion of a rondo with contrasting material. It is the quintet's most joyful movement.
Reception
The clarinet quintet was quite favourably received upon its first performance and the ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'' praised its: "Spontaneous lyricism, expert craftmanship and utter freedom from stylistic mannerisms". It is Moore's most famous and popular chamber piece and has received (as of 2006) at least two commercial recordings.
References
{{Portal bar, Classical music, Music
Compositions by Douglas Moore
Moore
Moore may refer to:
People
* Moore (surname)
** List of people with surname Moore
* Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador
* Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army
* Moore Powell (died c. 1573 ...
1946 compositions