BERNSTEIN, Leonard

Sonata for clarinet and piano

II. Andantino - Vivace e leggiero

Karl-Heinz Steffens, guest professor

Irvin Venys, student

Ofelia Montalván, accompanying pianist

Just at the beginning of the movement, prof. Steffens resembles the clarinet melody with a main theme from West Side Story: “Someday, somewhere…”, it has to sound very sad. About the “mezzoforte espressivo”, the professor makes some dynamical instructions to perform that correctly.  In a certain moment, the piano should imitate the clarinet articulation “molto legato” to stablish better the main character.
Steffens also gives some agogic indications, and about the character at the end of the Andantino just before the Vivace part, which must have more “swing” – in Bernstein’s style, not Stravinsky – although further on, articulation is shorter and measured.
They work on the changes to get the required different articulations: this music, like jazz, has a lot of different colors to show (maracas, percussions…). Such as the first movement, this one is related again with Aaron Copland and West Side Story atmosphere. In the Lento part, they work basically on agogic and dynamic issues. They also talk about the rapport between both instruments (in tempo, dynamic and articulation aspects). Finally, there are some suggestions about the accents and articulation for the clarinet final notes, and other short general recommendations for the concert.

Language: English