Les Adieux

Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (2021) 18’
- solo Clarinet in Bb, flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bassoon, trumpet in C, tenor trombone, percussion, piano, violin I, violin II, viola, cello, bass
- Commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest with the generous support of the CMNW Commissioning Fund and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival
- Written for David Shifrin to commemorate forty summers as Director of Chamber Music Northwest

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Program Notes

There is an old expression in Yiddish “Der mentsh trakht un got lakht” which amounts to “people plan and God laughs…” As I look at the genesis of “Les Adieux,” my concerto for the iconic clarinetist David Shifrin, I remember my own best-laid plans from two years ago. It was to be David’s final year of service to Chamber Music Northwest, after four decades of leading that amazing music festival. It was also Beethoven’s two-hundred fiftieth birthday that year, and the convergence of both inspired me to start this piece.

Taking Beethoven’s title (and movement names) for his twenty-sixth piano sonata, my concerto “Les Adieux” tells a story of withdrawal, absence, and return. The first movement of the piece is titled “The Farewell” and is an unfolding aria set in long undulating lines shared between the solo clarinet and members of the orchestra. Occasional pointillistic interruptions and falling motives are meant to evoke descent and departure. “The Absence” second movement focuses on the solo clarinetist alone playing a highly ornamented cadenza in the style of a cantor’s prayer as the orchestra plays the role of accompanying chorus. The final movement of the piece is titled “The Return” and brings back the orchestra and soloist in concert, rising up triumphantly, interspersed with moments of repose and reflection. The piece ends with the sounding of forty chords in the orchestra to commemorate David’s years at Chamber Music Northwest, followed by a final farewell as the clarinet holds past all others in strength and perseverance.

I realized on taking up the piece again this year–picking up all of the threads I laid aside during the pandemic–that the concerto has taken on yet additional meaning in the wake of COVID. That many of us said goodbye to significant parts of our lives in this time has made me realize the importance to not only to honor our departures, but to also cherish our triumphant returns.

 ©2021 David Ludwig