Dobrogean Ballade for Clarinet and Piano

From the Publisher

Inspired by the study of the Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov, I have deepened my research on the Bulgarian folk melodies and rhythms: a new world has opened up to me, made of oriental and arabesque moods, irregular and frenetic rhythms, mystical inflections of solitary landscapes. So this ballade is inspired by the melodies and rhythms from Dobruja, a region between Rumania and Bulgary, mixed with a bit of Ashkenazi soul. For this reason, I chose the clarinet as main instrument, also largely used in Rumanian and Bulgarian music. According to popular tradition, the Dobrogean ballad is divided into two clearly contrasting parts. The first part is conducted in a legendary manner, with an introduction that wants to be a kind of virtuoso improvisation, followed by a melody in the bass register of the clarinet, as if it came from a distant memory. The melody continues for fragments and improvisations to open slowly to a more serene, mystical and ritual section in major. A short suspension leads to the second section that recalls the ways of a Bulgarian dance, rachenitsa, a dance in 7/16. While this traditional dance has an ever-regular rhythm (2+2+3), in this section the accents are often shifted, giving a sense of instability. The dance is frantic, non-stop, and an illusion of calm is granted only with the resumption of the initial theme of the Ballad, always in the rhythm of the dance, which leads to the sudden, glowing and brutal ending.

Item Details

Instrumentation

• Part 1: Bb Clarinet
• Part 2: Piano