Parodi i dri (2021)
for violin, clarinet in Bb, and piano
Parodi i dri (Parody for Three) was written specifically for student performers. The repertoire for violin, clarinet, and piano is often light in character, and, as its title suggests, this work deliberately engages with that tradition. The trio incorporates both direct quotations and fleeting allusions to textures familiar from earlier works for the combination.
Fragments from a wide range of sources may be discerned, including Beethoven’s Septet, Brahms’s Double Concerto, Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, and The Rite of Spring. These borrowed materials are absorbed into the musical flow, functioning less as overt references and more as understated gestures — often intended as moments of recognition and amusement for the performers rather than as signals for the listener.
For reasons of register and colour, the violin’s lowest string is tuned a whole tone lower than usual, allowing a closer alignment with the clarinet’s low register.
Programme note by Carl Rosman.
Performance / Recording
Performed by:
Nathan Isaac (clarinet), Nick Francis (violin) & Gwydion Rhys (piano).
Recorded as part of the NYOW75 celebrations — a specially recorded digital concert of new music marking the 75th anniversary of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales – at St David’s Hall, Cardiff (UK).