Parent Record(s)

LevelSection

ReferenceBBM/clarinet_concerto

Subtitle / Other TitleFor clarinet and orchestra

Original Opus NoFormerly op. 28

Datecirca Nov 1941- Mar 1942

Date InformationBritten and Goodman discussed the work in late 1941, as confirmed in a letter from Ralph Hawkes to Britten on 9 Dec 1941, and the composition draft was probably finished before Britten's departure from the United States in March 1942. Britten did express an interest in reviving it in a letter to Erwin Stein on 12 March 1943, but there is no evidence he did so.

DescriptionWork commissioned by Benny Goodman. Only one movement is complete, entitled 'Molto allegro'. Two further movements were added by Colin Matthews to form 'Movements for a clarinet concerto', first performed on 22 May 2008. These movements extract material from two other Britten works contemporary with the concerto sketches: Mazurka elegiaca, op. 23, no. 2 (from Jun-Jul 1941) and the surviving fragments of the projected Sonata for orchestra (ca. 1941-1942).

Extent1 item

CatalogueArchive

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