Rainbow
(Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra )

RAINBOW

My heart leaps up when I behold
                           A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began,
So is it now I am a man, 
So be it when I shall grow old, 
                           Or let me die!
                                          _{(William Wordsworth)}

A rainbow can represent many things nowadays, but it was actually the real thing that inspired this concerto.  The dialogue between soloist and orchestra sometimes makes me imagine a conversation between an individual and the natural world. Rainbow is the third of my concertos to feature a solitary human being scanning the skies. In Stargazer, the trombone explores the night sky and is swept up in the mythic stories of the constellations. In Northern Lights, the solo accordion marvels at a spectacular natural phenomenon. In Rainbow, the solo clarinet traces a great arc in the sky, responding to its shape and colours.

The first movement takes the form of a chaconne.  The soloist’s arpeggios introduce a cycle of seven chords (the seven colours of the rainbow): the cycle appears fourteen times altogether, with hints of different weathers, and with different kinds of instrumental interplay. Quite early on, one lightly accompanying seven-chord cycle yields a contemplative solo clarinet melody, which is remembered during the cadenza and is eventually taken up expansively by the whole orchestra.

In the second movement, slower arcs focus on the cooler, sadder colours of the rainbow – violet, indigo, blue – while, in the third movement, the fiery colours (yellow, orange, red) provoke an exuberant dance.

Rainbow celebrates the virtuosity and lyricism of Mark Van der Wiel, to whom it is dedicated.