Composer: Antunes, Jorge, 1942-
Country of origin: Brazil
Title: Klarinettenquintett; Quintetto KarlOS per clarinetto in si bemolle e quartetto d'archi
Other titles:
Movements: Commodo ma Animato; Andante dopo Adagio dopo Andante; Lento dopo allegro dopo Lento; Largo ma Allegro
Year(s) composed: 1996
Publisher: Sistrum Music
Duration (in minutes): 28
Clarinet type: B-flat
Note: International Clarinet Association Score Collection catalog no. 6636
The work was composed in 1996, commissioned by the German clarinettist Karl Schlechta to whom the work is dedicated. The composer also dedicated the composition to the memory of his father, the Brazilian painter Carlos Antunes. The sub-title of the work, Quinteto KarlOs, refers to this double dedication.
In 1992 Jorge Antunes spent two months in Baden-Baden, Germany, staying at the famous Brahsmhouse. During this period he wrote a large part of the second act of his new opera Olga. Meanwhile, his sojourn in this ancient residence of Brahms evoked new ideas for new works. Every morning Antunes awoke hearing the sounds of birds, whose melodic forms were carefully annotated.
The bird songs of the House of Brahms populate the Klarinettenquintett, and are presented particularly in its first movement. Other bird songs were incorporated in the sonority of the piece, because charming warbles are also heard in green areas of Lago Norte in the city of Brasilia, where the composer lives and where the work was composed.