Parodi i dri (2021)
for violin, clarinet in Bb, and piano
The repertoire for violin, clarinet and piano is generally on the lighter side; as its title suggests, Morgan-Williams’ ‘parody for three’ is, quite deliberately, no exception. The trio incorporates both quotations of specific works and fleeting allusions to textures familiar from previous works for the combination. Quotation-spotters may discern fragments from a wide variety of sources ranging from Beethoven’s Septet (which, aptly enough, he also arranged for a similar combination) to Brahms’s Double Concerto, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis, and The Rite of Spring. They might, though, also miss the forest for the trees. These borrowed materials are very much subsumed into the overall flow, generally serving as sly winks in the background, more for the players’ amusement than for the audience’s erudition.
The violin’s lowest string is tuned a whole-tone lower than usual, for the sake of a closer rapprochement with the clarinet’s low register.
– 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).