Clarinet Sonata (Howells)

Herbert Howells's sonata for the clarinet in A in two movements was written in 1946. It was written for British clarinet player Frederick Thurston and was the composer's last major chamber work.[lower-alpha 1][1]

History

The precise circumstances under which the sonata was composed are not known, but it is known that it is related to the rejection of the composer's 1942 oboe sonata by its intended dedicatee, Léon Goossens.[2][3] Fabian Huss, writing on the relationship between the two compositions, speculates that the clarinet sonata grew out of the process of revising the oboe sonata. He noted that in 1947 Howells wrote in a review of Ralph Vaughan Williams Oboe Concerto that he considered the oboe best suited for short musical spans, much shorter than the ones he had included in the oboe sonata.[4]

Both Huss and the anonymous writer of the liner notes to the Hyperion recording of the oboe sonata, point to similarities in the rhythmical procedures and musical structure between the two compositions to argue that the clarinet sonata represents the result of an attempt by the composer to simplify and clarify the structural concepts he had explored in the oboe sonata combined with a change of instrument to one he felt better suited to them.[5][6]

Aileen Razey in their thesis comments that despite advocacy from Frederick Thurston, Boosey & Hawkes did not publish the sonata, in a transcription for the B♭ clarinet, until 1956.[7]

Structure

The two movements have the main tempo indications:

  1. Con moto, dolce e con tenerezza
  2. Allegro, ritmico, con brio

The music is typical of Howells's improvised sound world and is technically challenging, with sweeping arpeggiated figurations. The piece is also available transcribed for the B♭ clarinet from Boosey and Hawkes's music archive.

References

Notes

  1. In 1975, the composer began work on a Flute sonata that was unfinished at the time of his death.
  1. Sorrels 2018, p. 9
  2. Burns 2004, p. 3
  3. Quinn 2005
  4. Huss 2013, p. 153
  5. Huss 2013, pp. 153–154
  6. Anon. 1999, p. 2
  7. Razey 2018, p. 53

Sources

  • Anon. (1999). Music for Oboe (PDF) (CD). Hyperion Records. CDH55008.
  • Burns, Andrew (2004). Howells: Rhapsodic Quintet/Violin Sonata No. 3 (CD). Naxos Records. 8.557188.
  • Ferguson, Howard; Matthew-Walker, Robert (1997). English Music for Clarinet (PDF) (CD). Hyperion Records. CDD22027.
  • Huss, Fabian (2013). "Chapter 9: Style and Structure in the Oboe Sonata and Clarinet Sonata". In Cooke, Phillip A.; Maw, David (eds.). The Music of Herbert Howells. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84383-8791.
  • Quinn, John (2005). "Review: Howell - Rhapsodic Quintet/Violin Sonata No. 3/Clarinet Sonata/Harp Prelude". Musicweb International. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  • Razey, Aileen Maree (2018). The Inspiration Behind Compositions for Clarinetist Frederick Thurston (PDF) (D. Mus.). University of North Texas. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  • Sorrels, Keith (2018-10-26). Thematic continuity and melodic recycling in Herbert Howells's sonata for oboe and piano (D. Mus.). Indiana University. Retrieved 2020-03-01.

Herbert Howells: Clarinet Sonata (1946), Performed by Erica Sinclair (Clarinet) & Jo Sealey (Piano) on YouTube


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