Three Miniatures for Clarinet and Piano

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Three Miniatures for Clarinet and Piano is an early work by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It was finished in 1956,[1] but was premiered four years later.

Composition and premiere[edit]

The Three Miniatures were composed when Penderecki was only 23 and still a music student. They were dedicated to Władysław Kosieradzki, who was the clarinet professor at the Academy of Music in Kraków,[2] and were premiered by the dedicatée at the clarinet and Zbigniew Jeżewski at the piano in the 1958 Polish Composers' Union concert, which took place in November 17.[3] The score was published afterwards by the Polish Music Publishing House and Belwin-Mills.

Analysis[edit]

This composition consists of three short miniatures which take 1 to 1:30 minutes each to perform. The general mood and style of the work differs from the following works and shows no signs of Penderecki's later radicalism,[4] in the sense that these miniatures are not focused on the sonority of the instruments to generate atmospheres, probably influenced by Béla Bartók.[5] The miniatures were titled as follows:[6]

  1. Allegro
  2. Andante cantabile
  3. Allegro ma non troppo

The two outer movements of this composition are active and fast, while the middle one is slower and more meditative.

Reception[edit]

The Miniatures were negatively received by critics.[3] Vincent McDermott, from The Musical Quarterly, described the whole set of miniatures as "dull".[7] However, the miniatures were some of the few early compositions accepted for publication.[4]

Notable recordings[edit]

Following are some of the most well-known recordings of this piece:

Clarinet Piano Record Company Year of Recording Format
Lev Mikhailov Alexei Lubimov Melodiya 1970 LP[3]
Kjell-Inge Stevensson Eva Knardahl BIS Records 1976 CD[3][8]
Brian Schweickhart John Cobb Coronet Records 1981 LP[3]
Claude Faucomprez Alain Raës Solstice Records 1983 LP[3]
Walter Boeykens Robert Groslot Terpsichore Records 1983 LP[3]
Melvin Warner Sylvia Reynolds Crystal Records 1985 LP and CD[3][9]
Joaquín Valdepeñas Patricia Parr CBC Records 1987 CD[3]
Sabine Meyer Alfons Kontarsky EMI 1989 LP[3][10]
Aleksander Romański Szábolcs Esztényi WERGO 1993 CD[3][11]
Michel Lethiec Juhani Lagerspetz Naxos 2001 CD[3][12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "3 miniature".
  2. ^ "Blue" Gene Tyranny. "Krzysztof Penderecki Miniatures (3) for clarinet & piano". Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bylander, Cindy (2004). Krzysztof Penderecki : a bio-bibliography. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 0-313-25658-6.
  4. ^ a b "Three Miniatures for clarinet and piano". Nadorowy Instytut Audiowizualny. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  5. ^ Whitehouse, Richard. "About this Recording 8.557052 – PENDERECKI: Sextet / Clarinet Quartet / Cello Divertimento". Naxos Digital Services. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  6. ^ "Three Miniatures composer: Krzysztof Penderecki". Schott Music. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  7. ^ McDermott, Vincent (1968). "Milwaukee". Musical Quarterly. 54 (4): 524. doi:10.1093/mq/LIV.4.524.
  8. ^ "The Virtuoso Clarinet". BIS Records AB. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  9. ^ "CD332: Clarinet Candescence. Melvin Warner, Clarinet". Crystal Records. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  10. ^ "MEYER, SABINE 20th Century Classics: Penderecki". Warner Classics. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  11. ^ "Musica da camera". WERGO. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  12. ^ "PENDERECKI: Sextet / Clarinet Quartet / Cello Divertimento". Naxos Digital Services. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
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