Rapsodia (Rhapsody)

This work was originally written in 1989 as a chamber work for clarinet and piano. The author’s intention in 2010 was not to make a simple transcription, but rather to develop the exposed material in the original work in a succinct manner. In fact, the result almost doubles the chamber piece in length, so we could really talk about a restructuring.

The piece starts with a cadence by the soloist, accompanied by percussion instruments, of somewhat rough and edgy character. With the entry of the band, the expression softens, leading to the presentation of two items, of which only the latter is really new, since the former is a variant of the opening phrase of the cadence. The third section returns to the tense atmosphere of the beginning, being a development of the material presented above. A new accompanied cadence precedes the reexposition of the themes, but in reverse order. Finally, a dreamy coda concludes the work with ease.

The piece, like all the music for clarinet of Santiago Quinto, is a collaboration with the brilliant soloist Gumersindo Berná, to whom the work is dedicated.