II. Pure Happenchance from Elastic Band

Description

Elastic Band  is an edgy, playful work that fuses jazz, rock, funk, and classical idioms. It was conceived as a fun, divertimento-like work. The title refers to both the elastic nature of the work–which happily straddles the Classical, 21st Century, and Pop music worlds–and to a pun: the ensemble writing is often more reminiscent of a jazz “little big band” than a traditional chamber ensemble. The original sextet scoring (clarinet and string quartet) has classical resonances. But, add percussion to the mix, and a decidedly jazzy-rock tinge emerges: the Mozart Clarinet Quintet… with a twist, if you will.

The second movement, Pure Happenchance, functions like a quirky scherzo–the dance movement!–with Duke Ellington overtones in the primal drum ostinato and the clarinet’s timbre (think of Ellington’s 1920’s “jungle music”) … and even a hint of klezmer. This movement relies more on juxtaposition and pop-like repetition than the classical-style motivic development found in the outer movements. The scoring is reminiscent of jazz big band writing (e.g. sectional voicings, or harmonizations, of a line in the strings) and the percussion replete with the ostinato pattern.

In May 2018 Leonid Sushansky commissioned me to arrange the second movement – Pure Happenchance – for his National Chamber Ensemble as a small ensemble piece. We decided on a trio of clarinet, piano, and percussion/drum set. Julian, Carlos, and Leland did a stellar job and it worked wonderfully. I would consider arranged the whole piece for this combination. Any takers? contact me. For more info about this work click here.

Score is available as a downloadable PDF file.

Note bene: Elastic Band is available in the following “flavors” – chamber orchestra, octet, septet, and as a single movement (II. “Pure Happenchance”) for trio (clarinet, piano, percussion/drum set).