Tenement Rhapsody

Clarinet ensemble
13’
2012
E-flat clarinet, five b-flat clarinets, two b-flat bass clarinets

…skillfully and idiomatically scored, rhythmically complex, challenging to play and exciting to hear. Clarinet ensembles with professional-level members who enjoy contemporary idioms and the challenge of virtuosic counterpoint will find this piece a wonderful new repertoire option.

Program Notes

Originally written for two pianos, Tenement Rhapsody was arranged for clarinet ensemble in 2012 for the New York Licorice Ensemble.

Tenement Rhapsody was composed in 2005 as a farewell to NYC, after having lived there for 17 years. The first movement, ‘Subway’, is a jagged, jazzy dance in which the instruments bicker, bump into each other and compete to be heard over one another. True to the piece’s character, the ideas came to me while jostling my way onto the subway at Union Square Station during a winter rush hour.

The second movement evokes the city on a a warm and breezy spring day. It is gently lyrical and harmonically lush.

The third movement, ‘At Play’, takes a simple repeating diatonic line and places all sorts of humorous and contrasting material over it. The spirit of this final movement was inspired by life behind my apartment door, as I watched my 14 month-old baby exploring his universe with eager eyes and the swagger of a drunken sailor.

Movement 1
Movement 2
Movement 3
©2023 Copyright - Amanda Harberg