| Instrumentation: | clarinet, piano |
| Duration: | 13' |
| Year Composed: | 2010 |
| Commissioner: | Trevor Pittman (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) |
| Dedication: | to Trevor Pittman |
| Movements: |
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| Notes: | The two movements may be performed in either order. The first movement (6') may be performed separately. |
Lake (middle)
Marsh (middle)
While living in Toronto my wife and I would escape the city every summer by spending a week in cottage country. One year we rented a cabin in the Muskoka region that had the distinction of sitting on a rock face overlooking a wide lake while at the same time bordering a narrow tributary that led to a vast marsh. We spent the bulk of our time canoeing on the open lake and along a winding channel that cut through the marsh—the two scenes I depict in this sonata.
The first of these, "LAKE: open water, brilliant sun, shimmering surface", and marked "Nervous, exuberant", reflects the joy of being out on the open water. The music's flowing ostinatos, syncopations and cross-rhythms reflect the rhythm of the waves and of the canoe, and the dance of the sun's light on the water.
The second scene, "MARSH: winding waterways, tall reeds, punctuated tranquillity", offers a contrasting experience. Here tension-laden stasis unexpectedly gives way to brief moments of activity. On one occasion, while gliding in our canoe among the tall grasses, we paused at a beaver dam and waited patiently for one of its inhabitants to emerge from within. Instead, the stillness was interrupted by a loud splash some ways behind us—a beaver slapping its tail to signal danger. Not all the wildlife was as elusive: we saw a black bear rambling along the shoreline at dusk; and a great blue heron taking flight as soon as it noticed that we had noticed it.
In the score I have indicated that the movements can be played in either order and have designed the music accordingly: it seems immaterial whether one experiences the lake or the marsh first. The first movement may also be performed separately.
Trevor Pittman, a clarinetist who I had the good fortune of meeting during my year teaching at the University of Windsor, Ontario, commissioned the sonata; I have dedicated the work to him.
—R.R.
“Ana María Otamendi beautifully crafts the opening few bars as she creates a wonderful atmosphere that evokes placid imagery.”
—Robert DiLutis, The Clarinet 46/3 (June 2019), journal of the International Clarinet Association
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