Peter Maxwell Davies

Strathclyde Concerto No. 4

Davies's feeling for the potency and bravura of the clarinet goes back to works of the 1960s; his concerto for the instrument is predictably a big, ranging piece, in two linked movements. The first, fast with a brief slow introduction, has the soloist in propulsive melodic flights slipping over into florid runs, but it is a virtuoso piece for the orchestra, especially for the marimba and pair of horns. The Adagio that follows is in the spare, cold, birdcall-riven style of other recent Davies slow movements, exploiting first the clarinet's low register and then, at its climax, the instrument's high extremes. A cadenza leads to the coda, where Davies introduces a Scots tune, previously hinted at, with which he brings the work to an end in F sharp major.
Miniature score.

Instrumentation:

Solo Clarinet In A
2 Flutes (2nd Doubling Piccolo)
2 Oboes
2 Bassoons (2nd Doubling Contrabassoon)
Bass Clarinet In Bb
Contrabassoon
2 Horns In F
Timpani
Percussion (1 Player)
Strings