Sonata Macabre

“There are surprisingly few chamber works featuring the bass clarinet, and I wrote this concentrated single movement 10 minute piece at Victoria Samek”s request: it is also dedicated to her. A majestic ”French overture” opening is followed by faster ”spectral” music, the various interlocking sessions culminating in a rather nasty Scherzo loosely based on the ”Dies Irae” motif. Rob has recently been inspired to compose a large number of works for clarinets in various combinations, largely as a result of his extremely happy and fruitful collaboration with Victoria Samek. He”s influenced as much by music of the past as much as the present, above all in re-thinking classical forms and procedures in modern terms, and he is happier composing for relatively small-scale forces and in more modest durations. Mozart, Poulenc and Stravinsky, Tippett, Berio and Messiaen, Haydn and Donatoni are all major inspirations: music as entertainment on many levels, the aim to balance clarity and co