Time Pieces is a concert work for B-flat clarinet and piano, dedicated to and written for Mitchell Lurie. Muczynski created a piece that is dynamic and interesting but is also written so well for the clarinet and piano that a virtuosic performance from both musicians is achievable.

 

Robert Muczynski was an American composer born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1929 and died in Tucson, Arizona, in 2010. Muczynski is noted for having compositional influences from composers like Bartók, Barber, and Prokofiev. He is categorized as a neo-classical composer but many state him as having neo-romantic qualities in his music. Mitchell Lurie (1922 - 2008) was a clarinetist, performer, and educator in the United States. He was a professor for over forty years at the University of Southern California.

 

Since the premiere by Lurie and Muczynski, Time Pieces has become a very popular piece in the clarinet community for both collegiate students and professionals. Muczynski has stated:, “This composition is a suite of four contrasting pieces, each highlighting some specific characteristic of the clarinet in terms of range, technical prowess, color, and expressiveness…. The title of the work, Time Pieces, has nothing to do with mechanical clocks or watches. It is not a play on words but rather an awareness that everything exists in time: history, our lives and… in a special way… music.”

 

I have been working through this piece for a little over a year. It has been on my stand for juries, clarinet recitals, and doctoral program auditions. I love that this recital is where it comes to a conclusion. It has also been amazing to work on this piece with the fantastic pianist Emily Perry. Emily has been a rock for me here at Western and is an amazing collaborator and friend.

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“Blue Monkey is a short, jaunty duo, perfect for concert/recital programming. The main riff in swing eighths is repeated throughout, ensuring that it sticks in the mind of the audience.” - Lauren Bernofsky

 

Lauren Bernofsky (b. 1967) is a multifaceted composer of solo, chamber and choral music as well as larger-scale works for orchestra, film, musical, opera, and ballet. Her music has been performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Brunei, Kenya, Ecuador, and South Africa.

 

This piece has been such a fun project to put together with my amazing friend, Caty Cook. We have become so close as graduate students here at Western and have blossomed a friendship that will last forever.

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Women's Rights Are Human Rights is a musical experience to show the challenges experienced by women and people with uteruses all over the world. This piece is for a solo clarinetist switching between B-flat clarinet and bass clarinet and is accompanied by fixed audio and video. This piece explores the complexities surrounding gender inequality including a woman's role in society, the wage gap, and the right to choose.

 

This piece musically explores an extreme range of both the B-flat and bass clarinet, and contemporary techniques including multiphonics and key clicking. The performer engages with the audio and video, giving a whole-hearted acting performance. The piece has components that might be overstimulating, as well as explicit language and violent images.

 

With profound dedication, this work was commissioned by Dr. Julia Lougheed, a beacon of empowerment, who has tirelessly advocated for women's rights. She approached me with the idea for this piece surrounding the terrible recall of the Supreme Court decision of Roe V. Wade in 2022. Both of us wanted to create a piece that would not just bring awareness to the inequality of women but would also bring deep thought and action.

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Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Alice Mary Smith was composed in 1870 and has been gaining a place as a popular piece in the clarinet repertoire. Smith was a British female pioneer in 19th-century England and her music is heavily influenced by Mendelssohnian as well as incredibly orchestrated and compelling. During her time, she was the first known woman to have composed a symphony that was performed by the Musical Society of London. This sonata is in three movements, I. Allegro, II. Andante, and III. Allegro Pastorale. Each one is beautiful and very well written for the A clarinet, which makes it a fantastic option for soloistic recitals.

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Blush for solo clarinet was composed by Jean Ahn in 2010 and revised in 2019. Ahn wrote and dedicated the piece to Wonkak Kim who is the clarinet professor at the University of Oregon. Ahn states the following about the piece, “This piece is based on this image of flowers, shy to express fully with words but cannot help blush. The overall tempo and mood may be freely interpreted by the performer. The use of microtones, grace notes, and glissandi depicts the characteristics of Korean traditional music.” Ahn was inspired by this quote from Ebenezer Elliot (1781-1849) when composing the solo work. "When daisies blush, and windflowers wet with dew…"

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Phat – Concerto for Bass Clarinet is a multi movement piece that is a musical description of what it is like to be a fat clarinetist in the performance world. I composed this piece to incorporate many different kinds of styles, grooves, themes, and moods. There are times when you are listening that you want to stand up and dance and other times when you are waiting for what is coming next.

 

Between each movement there is a short audio description of the research I have done and/or an anecdote that gives the movement more context. Audio before each movement:

 

Movement I: Introduction

Fat – A way to describe a body type. This word is frequently used to insult people (even if they are not fat). The fat community has been taking action to un-polarize the word and use it as a neutral adjective. The word fat will be used instead of words like; overweight, obese, curvy, husky, voluptuous, plump, chubby, and/or other words you might think of to avoid saying the word fat.

 

Movement II: Flattering

Plus-size clothing for women in the United States is usually in the sizes 16 - 28. There are very limited options and the size of the clothes are inconsistent between stores and styles. This does not include extended plus sizes that are not usually sold in stores at all. I will always spend more time shopping because I can’t find clothing in my size in stores. I will always spend more money than people who wear straight sizes because of the hidden fat tax. I will always have to wear floral patterns, skulls, cold shoulder tops, and skater dresses because clothing brands don’t know what other kinds of clothes fat people can wear. I will always be a little uncomfortable in whatever I am performing in because the clothing is not truly designed for my body type. Will I always be thinking, “What will they say about my body?” and not, “What will they enjoy about my music making?”

 

Movement III: Microaggressions

A microagression is an action or statement that is usually unintentional or unconsciously directed towards a person of a minority group. Nico Pronk’s article “Weight Bias and Discrimination in the Workplace: Addressing a Diversity and Inclusion Issue,” states the following: “Weight bias is negative attitudes, beliefs, judgments, stereotypes, and discriminatory acts aimed at individuals simply because of their weight. It can be overt or subtle and occur in any setting, including employment, healthcare, education, mass media and relationships with family and friends. It also takes many forms – verbal, written, media, online and more. Weight bias is dehumanizing and damaging: it can cause adverse physical and psychological health outcomes and promotes a social norm that marginalizes people.”

 

Movement IV: Fatty“

Being fat is not a matter of identity, it is a medical condition and it can be harmful.”“You shouldn’t wear that, it’s not made for people your size.”“This reminds me of one of my favorite sayings and life observations: ‘Being fit is hard. Being fat is hard. Choose your hard. Either way, you get to pick which category of suffering you will inevitably endure.”“I’d argue that it’s the fit people that are marginalized… Can I be facetious and call you FITphobic?”“This is a stupid research topic, lose weight fattys”These are statements people have said to me either in person or online. It takes time to be able to let the comments roll off your back and to keep moving forward. So, to those people who have these biased opinions: thank you so much for helping me prove my point. Most peer reviewed books or articles could not answer my research questions as well as these quotes do.

 

Movement V: Finale

My research reveals that fat clarinetists encounter discrimination in multiple forms, including hiring biases, body shaming, lack of representation, and a lack of accessible professional and performance attire. This piece and research show the internalized stigma that many fat clarinetists experience due to societal beauty standards. The lack of representation of fat musicians in the classical music industry perpetuates the notion that success is inherently tied to thinness. As a result, fat musicians often battle negative self-perceptions, fearing that audiences, colleagues, and even educators judge their abilities based on their appearance rather than their hard work and dedication to the craft. This internalized bias can significantly impact performance confidence and career trajectory. The piece aims to challenge existing norms, advocate for change, and encourage a more accepting representation in the clarinet community.