Triple Set

Triple Set was commissioned by the Flute/Clarinet Duos Consortium, an organization of 17 groups which will give the premiere performances of the work. I’ve always been fascinated by the flute and clarinet, and when I was approached by my colleagues at Rice (Leone Buyse and Michael Webster) to write a piece for flute, clarinet and piano (I’m a pianist myself), for the Flute/Clarinet Duos Consortium, I was happy to oblige. Both of my sons also play the clarinet, so many of these sounds are around me all the time.The piece is in three contrasting movements. The first movement, Driving, marked “With great energy”, is rhythmically propelled forward by the piano’s muted strings and the flute and clarinet playing at first in rhythmic unison, then each taking a turn at solos while the other participates in the accompanimental syncopations. The second movement, Still, is marked “Timeless” and slowly unfolds its melodic and harmonic ideas. The third movement, Relentless, is a kind of 6/8 scherzo, which vigorously and relentlessly propels itself forward to the end, with just two minor interruptions of quasi-cadenza like passages for flute and clarinet duo.- Pierre Jalbert