Grainger (arr. Johnston) - Handel in the Strand for Clarinet Choir - C
Percy Grainger - Handel in the Strand for Clarinet Choir (or solo trio, accompanied by clarinet choir), arranged by Matt Johnston. This is one of the Grainger's most lively and humorous works. Originally written for piano and strings, the piece was first titled Clog Dance, but Grainger’s friend William Gair Rathbone suggested the more imaginative title Handel in the Strand. Grainger explained that the music seemed to combine the style of the eighteenth-century composer George Frideric Handel with the sounds of modern English popular entertainment. He described the work as portraying “jovial old Handel” racing down London’s Strand, a famous theatre and entertainment district, to the accompaniment of contemporary popular music. The result is a playful blend of Baroque-inspired grandeur and energetic twentieth-century dance rhythms.
This arrangement was created for Tyler Guzmán of the River City Winds woodwind trio and Shaun Guzmán of the Prickly Pear Clarinet Ensemble, both from San Antonio, Texas. They were searching for a piece which their ensembles could perform together at a joint concert, combining the instrumentation of the trio (flute, clarinet, and bassoon) with a standard clarinet ensemble. In this arrangement, parts are included which would allow for performance of the piece solely by clarinets, as well as an oboe part in place of the original solo clarinet part such that a trio of flute, oboe, and bassoon could be featured.
Instrumentation:
- Solo Flute (or E-flat Clarinet)
- Solo Clarinet (or Oboe)
- Solo Bassoon (or Bass Clarinet)
