The Klezmer Concerto is piece for solo

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, harp, strings and percussion by Israeli-American composer

Ofer Ben-Amots Ofer Ben-Amots (Hebrew: עופר בן-אמוץ; born October 20, 1955) is an Israeli-American composer and teacher of music composition and theory at Colorado College. His music is inspired by Jewish folklore of Eastern-European Yiddish and Judeo- ...

. The piece was both written for and dedicated to renowned

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

clarinetist David Krakauer. The three-movement composition is marked by traditional klezmer sonorities and the use of extended techniques in the clarinet part. The Klezmer Concerto premiered in

Michelstadt, Germany Michelstadt () in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. It has a population of 28,629 people. Geography Location Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkre ...

on July 15, 2006 as part of the Michelstadt Musiknacht 2006.

Composition

The piece was composed in 2006. Amots states that the concerto was directly inspired by Krakauer's distinct playing style for klezmer clarinet; Amots and Krakuaer worked together throughout the composition process, with Krakauer's techniques influencing the composition from its earliest sketches.

Movements

I. Pastoral Donya

The concerto opens with a slow movement titled Pastoral Donya. A Donya is a type of melancholic melody likely of Eastern-European origin. The strings open with a passage meant to imitate the sounds of nature. The clarinet appears over the accompaniment with shout and cry-like melodies.

II. Nigun of the Seven Circles

This dance-like movement is based on the Jewish wedding tradition of a bride circling her bridegroom seven times before the marriage ceremony can actually begin. Towards the end there is a free

cadenza In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), sol ...

for the clarinet to improvise and expand upon previously stated motives.

III. Halleluya

The third movement was inspired by a passage describing a raucous musical scene in the 150th Psalm of the first testament. This movement also features a cadenza for the clarinet in a perpetual motion style. The movement concludes with the orchestra joining in the winding fashion, suggesting the praise of a Halleluya.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klezmer Concerto Clarinet concertos Klezmer 2006 compositions