Composer: Lee, James III
Country of origin: United States
Title: Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet
Other titles:
Movements: Forgotten emblems; Awashoha; Alas, my identity; Celebrated emblems
Year(s) composed: 2018
Publisher: Verona, NJ : Subito Music, [2018] ©2018
Duration (in minutes): 20
Clarinet type: B - Flat
Note: See comment below
Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet is a four-movement work inspired by historical aspects of indigenous Americas. The first movement, Forgotten Emblems uses what I call an ‘inverted shofar theme” that can be heard at the beginning of Nathaniel Dett’s “The Ordering of Moses” and William Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony.” This movement also refers to various paintings of “An Emblem of America” from the eighteenth century. There are also many moments when I try to imitate an Indian Pow Wow. I named the second movement Awashoha, which is a Choctaw Indian word that means to “play somewhere.” This serves as the scherzo movement. Movement three serves as a kind of lament and references the reclassification of many indigenous people and the removal to other regions of the country. Then finally, movement four is a short dance celebration of the lives represented in the various paintings of “An Emblem of America.”
James Lee III
Source: composer’s notes