Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra Op.110 (2009) c.31'00"

(2+1.2.2.2/2.2.2.1/timp/perc(2)/hp/pno d cel/solo cl/strings)

I. Andante - Presto - Tempo I
II. Larghissimo
III.Allegro

Commissioned by The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Buffet Crampon USA, Van Doren Paris and DANSR, Inc., The Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, The Bozeman Symphony Orchestra, The Hanson Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, The Chappaqua Orchestra, The Erie Philharmonic, The North State Symphony, The River Concert Series at St. Mary's College of Maryland and the Chesapeake Orchestra, The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and The Juneau Symphony

First performed on November 5th, 2009 at the Schuster Center in Dayton, Ohio by Jon Manasse with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Neal Gittleman

ABOUT

My Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra Op.110 was written for Clarinettist Jon Manasse, and commissioned by a consortium of orchestras and organizations that includes the Dayton Philharmonic, Buffet Crampon USA, the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, the Evansville Symphony Orchestra, the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra, the Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, the Chappaqua Orchestra, the Erie Philharmonic, the North State Symphony, the River Concert Series at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the Chesapeake Orchestra, the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Juneau Symphony. The concerto was completed during the summer of 2009. 

Clarinets are absent in the makeup of the orchestra.  It is scored for piccolo, with pairs of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and trombones; plus tuba, timpani, two percussionists playing on a variety of instruments that include slapstick, bass drum, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, ratchet, woodblock, cowbell, jawbone, maracas, cymbals, snare drum, triangle, gourd, tambourine, tubular bells, glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba and vibraphone; harp, one keyboardist playing both piano and celesta, and the normal string compliment.

The work is in three movements.  The first is an Andante that give way to a Presto, ending with a restatement of the Andante;  the second, marked Larghissimo with a central section of variations marked Grave; and the last, an Allegro with a pronounced Latin influence.

REVIEWS

“…this new concerto deserves to become part of that small list of familiar clarinet concertos, along with those by Mozart, Carl Nielsen, Carl Maria von Weber and Copland. It is a thoroughly wonderful piece in every way. The opening of this piece is simply one of the most surprising and gorgeous sounds I have ever encountered…The third movement…is festive, grand and witty and is a fine conclusion to this piece. But it is the middle movement, all longing and bitterwseet pensiveness, which is the emotional core of the work…This concerto will be, I hope, rapidly accepted and repeatedly played by the world’s orchestras.”
The Courier-Press, Evansville, IN

“The Clarinet Concerto written by Lowell Liebermann showed why he is one of America’s most dynamic composers today…Liebermann made the night memorable.”
Sioux City Journal

”Lowell Liebermann’s magnificent new clarinet concerto outshone everything else…when the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op.110…cruised to a breathless finish and the standing ovation and shouts of bravo were echoing through the hall, it seemed clear that we had heard a piece that will remain in the repertoire for decades to come.”
The Roanoke Times