Divertimento (score & parts) - 2CL/BSN

Divertimento
for two clarinets and bassoon
by Peter Schickele (b. 1935) - American composer Almost every piece I write, or at least contemplate, has a deadline to spur its completion. The deadline may be a specific performance, a birthday, or the terms of a commissioning agreement, but it's the rare piece (usually something very short, such as a round) that sees the light of day without the pressure of a due date. I start things, or have ideas for things, constantly, and a certain amount of gestation time is usually productive, but when it comes to getting the thing done, to wrapping it up, it is often true that deadline=adrenaline=inspiration. 
But there are exceptions. I've always been attracted to Mozart's casual and occasional music; his divertimentos and serenades (written as party music, and often for wind instruments, which are easier to hear outdoors than strings) fulfill their social obligations with such grace, wit, and simple beauty that they tend to stand up well with repeated hearings. 
My Dances for Three, for two clarinets and bassoon, was inspired by Mozart's trios, quartets, and sextets for winds, but when I had finished the piece, the ideas kept coming, piling up in my sketch books, and eventually, a second piece, this Divertimento, took shape. 
It's ironic that two works, inspired by the music written for very specific occasions, are among the few works in my catalog that were not written for specific occasions. 
-Peter Schickele
Duration: 9:00