Name: Copley, Peter: Scherzos and Arias
Price: 51.75 USD
Availability: BackOrder

Available to download immediately after purchase

Copley, Peter: Scherzos and Arias

About
Explore

About

Scherzos and Arias was composed between January and November 1992 and was based on a misunderstanding. When I was invited to compose a ‘Clarinet Quartet’, being a string player, I naturally assumed the present combination of instruments. It was only when I was well underway that it transpired that what was meant was a piece for four clarinets. Nonetheless, I pressed on and the present work resulted (the four-clarinet piece never did get written!). The five movements are all based on the same material but the contrasts between them are intended to be more apparent than their underlying unity which is latent rather than manifest. Scherzo I is a relentless moto perpetuo; Aria I, composed at a single sitting features the clarinet in a soloistic role; Scherzo II is intended to be grotesque in character. A possible analogy might be a fourhanded conversation in a pub, punctuated by loud background noise. As a sort of coda, the clarinet reels unsteadily home, holding animated discussions with passing lampposts! Seriousness returns with Aria II where for the most part, the strings play the prominent roles. The movement leads straight into Scherzo III, another moto perpetuo, but this time of a fugato character.

Looking back after nearly thirty years Scherzos and Arias marked the end of a decade of writing music that could broadly be described as ‘Expressionistic’. Afterwards, I mostly changed stylistic direction but certainly don’t disown the kind of music that I wrote during this period and have on occasion returned to this mode of expression.

Sheet Music Download

Contents

Download queue