From the original in 1986 comes this quirky and whimsical work for clarinet (in Bb) and piano—as stated in the opening metronome marking..

Its origins sprang from that “in-between time” ‘twixt a sleepy dream and awake-ness. When I passed through the corridor I imagined the chiming of an eternal timepiece, followed by a nagging temporal alarm clock. The “eternal” clock was residual during the transition into the waking world and the latter the springboard into the awaiting day to be filled with the chores and playful activities of youth.

The ending is the sometimes-sudden awareness of having spent much energy for a full day and easy acceptance of the pending next night’s sleep—perhaps filled with more adventurous dreams as that “eternal” clock begins again to chime.

This edition is modified from the original. I cut a few redundancies/bars here and there and revised the original main theme which had sounded (unintentionally) derived from a famous duet by a French composer of the 19th century. I also tweaked sundry areas, especially transitions from sections to sections.

The harmonies are basically very tonal, but often use fourths-based chords in addition to traditional thirds, clusters, a splash or two of bi-tonality, harmonic “shifts” rather than transpositions, and “contrasting time signatures,” i.e., clarinet in 3/4 and piano in 6/8.

Performance time: approximately 8’00"

Vanessa McClintock
July 2023