''Prelude, Fugue and Riffs'' is a "written-out" jazz-in-concert-hall composition composed by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

for a

jazz ensemble A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

featuring 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 ...

. The title points to the union of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

: Prelude (first movement) and

Fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

(second movement) – both

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

forms – are followed immediately without a pause by a series of "

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s" (third movement), which is a jazz term for a repeated and short melodic figure. It features: * brass and rhythm in the first movement, * saxophones in the second movement, and * the entire ensemble plus solo clarinet in the third movement first with backing from the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

then by the entire ensemble. Completed in 1949 for

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

as part of a series of commissioned works – that already included

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

's '' Ebony Concerto'' – it was never performed by Herman, possibly because his orchestra had disbanded at that time. Instead, it received its premiere as part of Bernstein's ''Omnibus'' television show, ''The World of Jazz'' on October 16, 1955.From the liner notes of the DG Bernstein-Schmidl recording According to some sources the soloist at the premiere was

Al Gallodoro Alfred J. Gallodoro, (June 20, 1913 – October 4, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, who performed from the 1920s up until his death. He is notable for having played lead alto sax with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and ba ...

; other sources state it was premiered by

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

– Bernstein's

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

neighbour and friend since the 1940s – to whom the work was dedicated. In 1952 Bernstein revised the score from its original instrumentation for a more conventional pit orchestra, and the work was then incorporated into a ballet sequence in the first draft of the

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

Wonderful Town ''Wonderful Town'' is a 1953 musical with book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein. The musical tells the story of two sisters who aspire to be a writer and act ...

''. The revised version of ''Prelude, Fugue and Riffs'' did not survive and the majority of the music was cut from the final version of the ''Wonderful Town'' score with the exception of a few phrases in the musical's numbers "Conquering the City" and "Conversation Piece". It later was transcribed for clarinet and orchestra by

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

Discography

Recordings by Leonard Bernstein *

. ''Benny Goodman Collector's Edition'', CBS MK 42227 *

Peter Schmidl Peter Schmidl (born 10 January 1942) is an Austrian clarinetist. Schmidl was born in Olomouc, Czech Republic, and studied clarinet with Rudolf Jettel at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. He was the principal clarinetist of the ...

. ''Bernstein Conducts Bernstein'', Deutsche Grammophon 447952-2 GLB, (1949), (p) 1992 Recording of big band version *

Wolfgang Meyer Wolfgang Meyer (13 August 1954 – 17 March 2019) was a German clarinetist and professor of clarinet at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe. He worked internationally as a soloist, in chamber music ensembles, and in jazz, with a repertoire from early m ...

. ''Homage to Benny Goodman'', EMI Classics 7243 5 56652 2 5 (1998), (p) 1998 Recordings available on CD *Michael Collins. ''The Jazz Album'', EMI CDC 7 47991 2 *Harmen de Boer. ''Bernstein/Copland/Gershwin/Stravinsky'', Chandos CHAN 9210 (1993), (p) 1993 *

. ''Benny Goodman Collector's Edition'', CBS MK 42227 *

. ''Homage to Benny Goodman'', EMI Classics 7243 5 56652 2 5 (1998), (p) 1998 *

. ''Bernstein Conducts Bernstein'', Deutsche Grammophon 447952-2 GLB, (1949), (p) 1992 *

Richard Stoltzman Richard Leslie Stoltzman (born July 12, 1942) is an American clarinetist. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California, and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is part ...

. ''Copland/Corigliano/Bernstein'', RCA Victor Red Seal RD 87762 (1988), (p) 1988 *

John Bruce Yeh John Bruce Yeh (born 1957) is an American clarinetist. He has been the assistant principal clarinetist and E-flat clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1977. Yeh is the founder and director of the chamber ensemble, Chicago Pro Mu ...

. ''Stravinsky/Bernstein/Gould/Babin/Shaw'', Reference Recordings RR-55CD (1993), (p) 1993

References

External links

''Prelude, Fugue and Riffs''
work details
Score

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

''Prelude, Fugue & Riffs''
the newsletter of The Leonard Bernstein Office {{Authority control Clarinet concertos Compositions by Leonard Bernstein Preludes (music) Fugues 1949 compositions Music with dedications