Ebony & Ivory

An attractive and lively set of pieces for the competent clarinettist, exploring a variety of lighter styles. ‘On your Marks’ is a witty curtain-raiser to the Twenties swing of ‘Out of Town’, where foot-tapping syncopations and sliding chromatics are shared between the players. The languorous, expressive central ‘Beautifully Blue’ leads, via a mock-serious tango (‘Spanish Brandy’), to the Goodmanesque high jinks of the finale, ‘Gone to Lunch’. The idioms are well evoked and well contrasted, but the composer goes beyond mere pastiche. With his tongue firmly in his cheek he is constantly wrong-footing the players rhythmically or introducing fresh and unexpected melodic or harmonic shifts. The result is a clever and sophisticated set which will have wide appeal.