Stalpers - Clownery for Clarinets for Clarinet Quartet

Clownery for clarinets is a version of the similar 9 voices composition, written in 1984 by the Dutch composer Harry Stalpers (1926 - 2001) for the ‘Clarinet Choir Walter Boeykens’. As an introduction to the composition, Harry Stalpers wrote the following text: “The clown, his entry in the ring, followed by an uninterrupted series of quickly changing movements and emotions, from acrobatics to silly somersaults, from excessive joy to childlike sorrow, beginning and ending with circus music, sometimes interrupted by the laughter of the ‘highly esteemed audience’."

Instrumentation:

• 3 B-flat Clarinets
• Bass Clarinet