Poznan

Poznań by Joseph Davies for clarinet, viola and accordion.

 

Poznań was commissioned by the Brighton Soundwaves Festival and first performed at Brighton Town Hall by CHROMA Ensemble on 16 July 2011.

 

 

Programme Notes

 

The instrumentation of this piece suggested to me the world of Roma music widespread in Eastern Europe, and the music alludes to a field recording I heard of a gypsy band playing in Poznań, Poland. Each of the live instruments is treated soloistically in succession, starting with the clarinet which has a long, mournful solo with klezmer inflections, then the viola, and finally the accordion before a return to the original figuration. An ominous low C rhythmic pedal regularly intrudes.

 

- Joseph Davies

 

Performance Notes

 

Clarinets are written at sounding pitch in the score.

 

Duration: 7 minutes