Martin J. Van Klompenberg - Kentucky Woods Suite for Solo Clarinet

This work focuses on three trees that tell the story of Kentucky: the mighty Oak, the threatened White Ash, and the fruit-filled Paw-paw. The piece opens with Oak. Without it, Kentucky could not be called Bourbon Country. Bourbon requires fresh cut oak, which has been bent and formed into barrels, charred on the inside and allowed to be filled with Kentucky’s signature alcohol. White Ash is the primary source of material for one of Kentucky’s other exports: baseball bats. For more than a century, the Louisville Slugger factory has churned out many of the bats that America watched people like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols swing. The Paw-paw is one of these trees. These low growing trees fill forest undergrowth and help provide for the soil of the area. They also grow the Paw-paw, the largest indigenous fruit found in North America.