At Night (2008), Jenni Brandon, arr. Sheila Cullen - Twin Cities Clarinet Choir-Dr. Melissa Morales

Описание: ‪@JenniBrandon‬ on Youtube:    / @jennibrandon  

At Night for Clarinet Choir (4 Clarinets in B-flat and 2 Bass Clarinets) was originally written for SATB choir a cappella. The poem At Night by Amy Lowell used for inspiration in both speaks of the wind singing through the trees and the excitement of the wild wind. The clarinets imitate this idea of the wind at the beginning and end of the piece through freely played sections. Much of the piece contains this feeling of joyful freedom, from a dance-like section to the feeling “wild, tumultuous joy” that grows and builds with excitement. Towards the end of the piece when the clarinets come together to explore the feeling of the text “And my mind, O Star! is filled with your white light,” we feel the true wonder of a hot July night and the freedom to enjoy the onward sweeping wind.

Jenni Brandon is a prolific composer and conductor who has written over 100 works for soloists, chamber ensembles, concertos, operas, and orchestras. This piece won the 2008 Sorel Medallion and premiered with the Voices of Ascension in Carnegie Hall. This arrangement was made by clarinetist Sheila Cullen, member of the United States Naval Academy Band since 2006, and premiered by the members of that band in 2021.

At Night, Amy Lowell

The wind is singing through the trees to-night,
A deep-voiced song of rushing cadences
And crashing intervals. No summer breeze
Is this, though hot July is at its height,
Gone is her gentler music; with delight
She listens to this booming like the seas,
These elemental, loud necessities
Which call to her to answer their swift might.
Above the tossing trees shines down a star,
Quietly bright; this wild, tumultuous joy
Quickens nor dims its splendour. And my mind,
O Star! is filled with your white light, from far,
So suffer me this one night to enjoy
The freedom of the onward sweeping wind.