Clarinet Quartet

Dutch composer Henk Tromp's Clarinet Quartet is an outstanding addition to the clarinet quartet repertoire, at once both engaging and quite accessible for the young performer. There are some effective challenges for the intermediate ensemble, but no extreme demands on range; the work would be an effective addition to a recital program, and one or more movements could easily be selected for use in an ensemble competition at the high-school level. The three-movement work (Allegro, Adagio, Rondo) has a duration of approximately 12 minutes. Each movement features mixed meters, outstanding tight ensemble writing, and rhythmic challenges, without requiring virtuosity. There is outstanding use of dissonance, although within a very accessible musical language. For example, the final movement, after a lovely bass clarinet cadenza, ends with a rich major triad. Mr. Tromp's Learning to Play the Clarinet, a three-book series, is available from Broekmans & Van Poppel, a prominent Dutch publisher.