3 Pieces for Clarinet Alone Op. 29

This work was composed in March of 1963 and revised - rather extensively in the second Piece - in January of 1969. The following brief observations are intended to help the performer. The dotted triplet that forms a prominent motivic cell of the first Piece should have a "double dotted" quality; i.e. the 2nd and 3rd notes are played unaccented and staccatissimo. There are exceptions to this; here the indications legato, rit., espr., etc. are most plainly marked beneath the passage. In the second Piece, control and refinement of playing are important. Unintentional acceleration is the danger here. 138 is not a true "prestissimo" tempo. Set the metronome and see for yourself! The third Piece requires elegantly smooth legato playing and warm expressive phrases (as do the others). One will notice very son that all three Pieces are constructed by the means of contrasting and cumulative planes of pitch, intensities, and durations.