Soliloquy for Clarinet No. 5

This is the third installment of my pieces that were previously published here on Young Composers forum but got deleted during the renovation of the website in late April - early May 2016 and that I am choosing to publish again. Those pieces number 181 and I will try to post some of the best of them from time to time.

What distinguishes this soliloquy is that, after I posted it, I was asked by a member of YC to choose one of my pieces for members of YC to compose pieces based on its theme. And I chose this piece since it was - and probably still is - one of my most original pieces.  

This is how I introduced my Soliloquy for Clarinet No. 5 when I posted it the first time back in October 5, 2013:

"This is my 5th soliloquy for clarinet. I think it is the best clarinet soliloquy I have composed till now. And I consider it among my best compositions."

Not sure about the beaming in this measure. It's definitely not wrong but I would have broken up the beams.

In this measure I might have kept things consistent and also had a grace note before the quarter note B - it's the only cadence that felt unusual, probably because I wasn't expecting the grace note on count 2 but I was expecting it on count 3. Personal choice!

Reminds me a lot of Bach in some way, I love it! I think it's the way you "rock back and forth" between the arpeggios you're using (B & F#), but it's very effective. Nice to listen to, and would be fun to play I'm sure as well.

Good one!

Gustav

Thanks Gustav Johnson for your review and feedback! Glad to know you love the piece. Nice to hear your expectations and interesting feedback. It's interesting that you were reminded of Bach! Of course, Bach, as one of the greatest composers ever, is always and inevitably an influence and an ideal in composition to learn from and aspire to, while of course creating and maintaining one's own originality as a composer. I think as composers we seek to communicate with - not imitate - other composers. It is that desire to communicate - to give one's own compositional response to all the great composers/compositions one hears and appreciates - that was/is in fact one of my main motivators as a composer.

Really great piece! I think a whole concert program with different instruments performing short pieces like this would be really cool.