instrumentation: Clarinet and Piano
ISMN: 9790801507785
cover: Małgorzata Flis
editor: Jadwiga Kubieniec, Marcin Kowalczyk
number of pages: 36+12
Michał Spisak began composing Concertino for clarinet and orchestra in 1940. He had finished the first part, Allegro, in Paris a few days before the German occupation started. The second part, Andante, was finalised five months later in Vichy and the last one, Allegro, in March 1941 in Voiron. In the beginning, he was not particularly fond of this creation and would not include it in summaries of his work. However, after 20 years he made certain adjustments to the score, and then in 1971, a published version for clarinet and piano became quite popular. Concertino is characteristic of Spisak’s style: straightforward form, simplified techniques, clear texture, and a cheerful mood – disturbing, strongly dissonant sound combinations (a result of linear treatment of voices and thinking with interval structures) notwithstanding. The solo is virtuoso in its nature; it allows the artist to demonstrate the clarinet’s abilities and prove one’s interpretative creativity, as the ability to work with emotions, is just as important as technical prowess (especially in the middle section, which has vast segments with no accompaniment). A copy of Concertino’s manuscript is among the composer’s memorabilia kept in the archives of the Polish Library in Paris, which allowed for a comparison between available sources and a subsequent correction of mistakes. Since 2018 Publishing House Euterpe has been making orchestra materials available to performers.
