Wild Swan (2006)

Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (solo cl/2222/3220/timp/perc[3]/hp/str)

1. Andante
2. Prestissimo
3. Largo

Program Note

WILD SWAN—Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra was an orchestral arrangement of Concertino for Clarinet and String Quartet, a work written in 1994. The orchestra version was commissioned by the New West Symphony, premiered On May 19th, by the orchestra at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, California, conducted by Bright Sheng with Gary Ginstling on the clarinet. The instrumentation calls for the solo Clarinet in Bb and A, two flutes (second doubles the piccolo), two oboes (second doubles the English horn), two clarinets in Bb (second doubles the bass clarinet), two bassoons (second doubles contra-bassoon), three French horns in F, two trumpets in C, one tenor trombone, one bass trombone, timpani, two percussionists (glockenspiel, xylophone, bowed crotales, two temple blocks [medium and low], wind gong, large tam-tam, bass drum), harp and strings.

The new title of the work was inspired by an amazing performance of the chamber version at Tanglewood Music Center in the summer of 2005, an equal experience of both the beautiful and the untamed. Although some significant changes were made during the rewriting, the work on the whole remains in the same character as the original version.

Many Central European composers such as Bartók and Janácek have believed that the fundamental elements for their music come from the native folk music and prosody of their native languages. And therefore when one understands the folk music and languages from these regions, one can truly understand and appreciate their works. Although this may be true, the music of these composers is nonetheless widely liked and admired by millions who do not know their languages. In that respect, this is the very goal I wish to achieve in my writing, which stems from Asian culture.

The materials of this works are drawn from fragments of folk tunes I heard over thirty years ago when I was living the northwest part of China. What struck me then was that, unlike most Chinese folk music, the folk music from that region is not based on a pentatonic scale. Rather, it has a seven-note scale similar to the mixolydian church mode. I wondered what it would be like if one were to use this melodic pattern in work for Western instruments and whether it would lose it Asian quality.

—Bright Sheng