This work was written for a performance of short tributes to celebrate composer Roger Smalley's 60th birthday by a number of his former students. As a clarinettist and composer I thought perhaps I might make reference to Roger's reference in his Clarinet Trio to Brahms' Second Clarinet Sonata. My little homage piece is based on what I believe to be the same passage from the sonata. It is however, recast with pitch material derived from musical transcriptions of the two composers names. (In the main the Clarinet plays “ROGER SMALLEY” and the piano “JOHANNES BRAHMS”.)
Rhythmically it is mostly the same as the original. For better or worse I decided there that the title for the work might be constructed in a similar fashion: by combining the two composers’ names. After a lot of false starts (that strangely seemed always to centre around food ie Green Jam Mashed Roll Nosh and so on) I came up with R. Sells Harmony Jamboree. Ok it’s not that catchy (and maybe even spelt wrong) but it was about as close as I could get at capturing my admiration for immense achievement and contribution Roger has made to New Music through his body of work, teaching and advocacy over the last 40 or so years.
A live record from the legendary Diamanda Galás finds the artist exploring the outer fringes of pop with only her voice and a piano. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2024