Hyunseo Yang - Stücke für Klarinette und Klavier, Nr. 1 F-dur (2021)

"Piece for Clarinet and Piano, No. 1 in F major" was composed in 2021, and slightly revised in 2024. Late-Brahmsian style, short yet dense piece. I was studying Brahms' works deeply in those days, and sought to incorporate the style and various composition techniques from piano pieces such as Op. 76 or Op. 117-119. Particularly I was impressed by the delicate harmonic progression in Op. 76 Nr. 4, begins with the dominant pedal tone rather than tonic and ends with the Deceptive Cadence, and in this piece I used subdominant (inversion of ii(Sp or s6) chord) to maximise harmonic ambiguity. For the idea of maintaining structural tension by naturally transitioning into the Part B without completely concluding the A part, while composing in three-part (A-B-A'), was inspired by several examples including Op. 117 Nr. 1. Furthermore, the reharmonization, employing different chords when the main theme is repeated in the piece as in Op. 117 Nr. 3, is adding some joy of listening. Part B begins with dominant pedal tone in B major, tritone from the F major of Part A. The notes of this theme is taken from the main theme of Part A, by modifying the rhythm. The entire section is composed as a canon, with the clarinet and piano exchanging melodies. This canon technique is also briefly employed in the coda.