Cadenza (2006)
(for solo clarinet (Bb) and an instrument with low range)

My collaboration with clarinetist Christoffer Sundqvist resulted in 2006 in a Concerto for clarinet and orchestra. Christoffer’s brilliant, open-minded and virtuotic musicianship served to a great extent as a source of inspiration and left its mark on the musical characters in the concerto.

After the premiere of the clarinet concerto, the concerto’s solo cadence began to ‘live a life of its own’ as a separate work. In this wild piece, all the musical materials that are presented in the clarinet concerto co-exist in a compressed form. The clarinet is accompanied by a low drone- tone that can be played by any suitable low range instrument and the piece has over the years been performed with numerous instrument combinations.

Sebastian Fagerlund