Clarinet Sonata (Howells)
Encyclopedia
Herbert Howells
Herbert Howells
Herbert Norman Howells CH was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music.-Life:...

's sonata
Clarinet Sonata
A clarinet sonata is piece of music in sonata form for clarinet, often with piano accompaniment.The Clarinet Sonatas by Brahms are of special significance to the clarinet repertoire...

 for the clarinet in A
Soprano clarinet
The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family.The B clarinet is by far the most common type of soprano clarinet - the unmodified word "clarinet" usually refers to this instrument...

 in two movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...

 was written in 1946. It was written for British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 clarinet player Frederick Thurston
Frederick Thurston
Frederick John Thurston was an English clarinettist.From the age of 7 he was taught by his father and he won an open scholarship to the Royal College of Music, becoming a pupil of Charles Draper...

 and was the composer's last major chamber work.

The music is typical of Howells's improvised sound world and is technically challenging, with sweeping arpeggiated figurations. The piece is also available transcribed for the B♭ clarinet from Boosey and Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....

's music archive.

It has been conjectured that the work is based on a sonata written for oboe, but withdrawn following criticisms by its original dedicatee, Léon Goossens
Léon Goossens
Léon Jean Goossens CBE, FRCM was a British oboist.He was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal College of Music...

.

The two movements have the main tempo indications:
  1. Con moto, dolce e con tenerezza
  2. Allegro, ritmico, con brio
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