II. Pure Happenchance from Elastic Band
Instrumentation
clarinet, piano, percussion (drum set)
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. 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 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.
A brief and accurate history of all things Elastic as it relates to Band
Elastic Band is an edgy, playful work that fuses jazz, rock, funk, and classical idioms. It has proven to be extremely popular, so I now offer it in "different flavors." Therein lies the confusion. The original Sextet (1996, clarinet, string quartet, and percussion) was cast in four movements. Versions 2-4 are in a more succinct three movements. Next came the Chamber Orchestra revision (2015 clarinet, strings, and 2 percussion) commissioned by Grace Cho and Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez of the New Orchestra of Washington. I knew it would make a great chamber orchestra piece: more bass, more color, and more percussion. But, as chamber ensembles requested Elastic Band, I wanted to keep the piece’s new fullness and concision, so I started my reduction from the chamber orchestra version. The first reduction was a Septet (2017, clarinet, string quintet, and percussion, gotta have that bass!), scored for Evan Solomon and Inscape Chamber Orchestra, and then Jonathan Newman and Timothy J. Robblee at Shenandoah Conservatory asked for an Octet edition (2018, clarinet, string quintet, and 2 percussion, a more exacting reduction of the chamber orchestra version) for the Edge Ensemble. In 2017 the Acis label releases the New Orchestra of Washington’s chamber orchestra recording (available on CD at iTunes and Amazon). This is the version you are more likely to hear. Finally, in 2018 I was asked Leo Sushansky’s National Chamber Ensemble to make a Trio version (clarinet, piano, and percussion) for Julian Miklis of the middle movement, “Pure Happenchance.” By my count that’s 4.33 versions so far. While vastly different, the trio works so well that I’d consider scoring the whole piece for that ensemble. Version 5? Any takers? Contact me.
In conclusion: make sure you look for the version of Elastic Band that fits your needs.
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Reviews
“An added bonus was a performance of composer Joel Phillip Friedman’s “Elastic Band,” a work of serious fun, which also draws on pop and jazz… [Friedman] has ingeniously transformed popular themes in a chamber setting. He even cops (his admission) Ringo Starr’s famous, thudding drum solo from the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” and turns it into a motif. The second movement takes on Duke Ellington’s “jungle music” of the ’20s when the great Sonny Greer sat behind the traps.” Richard Scheinin, The Mercury News
“The final work in the programme is Joel Phillip Friedman’s Elastic Band. Here we move into the worlds of Rock and Jazz which lends the music a ‘drum break’ and Big Band mélange, served up with great confidence by the composer. Friedman explicitly cites Barney Bigard’s clarinet playing and Duke Ellington’s ‘Jungle’ music when discussing the second movement, Pure Happenchance, and in the clarinet/drum exchanges, the jazz ensemble sound, feel to rhythm and in its sectional approach this makes sense. The shifting meters in the finale are part of a full-on, sonically wild Rondo, complete with enticing jazzy lope from the clarinet – Jeremy Eig should be mentioned here for his fine playing – and a slightly sleazy air to the proceedings. This is certainly the most demotic and outgoing of the three pieces.” Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International