To The Stars | for Clarinet and Piano | !!! 2025 Revision DONE !!!

Wow I did not expect this to be completed in such a short amount of time after I had posted the work in progress thread a week ago. That's a record. Though, I guess I did work on in beforehand. Still though, glad this one is not stuck in work-in-progress purgatory, just like the others...

Anyways, since the latest progress, I've modified the return to the first theme, most notably, a flurry of ascending scale on b.105 followed by a trilled downward passage of the theme. This is done to kick start the momentum of the piano's spotlight on the proceeding bar instead of just the piano reciting the theme alone in the 2022 version.

Another drastic change is that I've turned the passage from b.112 onwards to be a build-up for a proper, actual climax at b.118.

Additionally, I've fixed the many of the pitch spelling errors and, of course, tidied up the score as well.

There are other smaller changes on the piece as whole, but I'm not gonna list them here.

I'm really really happy I did this revision 'cus, again, I just love the themes in this and it's worth putting it to my current musical knowledge. It feels satisfying and gratifying.

Old version for comparison:

Progress Thread (wow i posted only two progresses on there)

Hope you all enjoyed this and lemme know what you think! Thank youuuu

edit: thanks to @pateceramics for pointing out the ineffective rhythmical change on bar 5-7.

Edited August 14, 2025Aug 14 by ferrum.wav
small revision

The one thing that didn't quite work for me were the initial shifting rhythms in the piano in the opening bars.  (Measures 5-7 in the right hand).  It felt like the effect you were looking for was more like just a rit. and having everything written out into different triplets didn't quite give as smooth a change in tempo as perhaps you were trying to achieve?  I really like this piece very much though!  Sterling work!  As neither a pianist nor a clarinet player, I can't speak to issues of playability.  It seems like it would be a challenge to learn, but well worth the work!  Very lovely!

8 hours ago, pateceramics said:

The one thing that didn't quite work for me were the initial shifting rhythms in the piano in the opening bars.  (Measures 5-7 in the right hand).  It felt like the effect you were looking for was more like just a rit. and having everything written out into different triplets didn't quite give as smooth a change in tempo as perhaps you were trying to achieve?  I really like this piece very much though!  Sterling work!  As neither a pianist nor a clarinet player, I can't speak to issues of playability.  It seems like it would be a challenge to learn, but well worth the work!  Very lovely!

 

I did play around with your suggestion, changing the triplets to the 16th notes, and yeah, it is so much more smoother now. However, I wanted variation on the second repetition, so I substituted the rhythmical change for harmonic and dynamic. I changed a bit of the notes from the ostinato, and the passage now crescendos a bit to forte then diminuendos to the unchanged pianissimo, just to add contrast. I've also properly modified the repetition at the end of the piece to match the change.

Thanks for the suggestion and feedback! Glad you like the piece!

Hey @ferrum.wav!

I don't remember if I reviewed this piece anytime throughout its development.  I definitely feel like I am really well familiarized with the music by now however, having heard it multiple times before.  I think the piece has a great melodic, harmonic and rhythmic identity!  And you sustain this melodic adventure for upwards of 7 minutes which is a feat!  I went back to the original post to maybe read up on whether this is a piece based on themes from somewhere - but I couldn't find anything, so I assume that this is all your own original material?  Great job and thanks for sharing!

15 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I went back to the original post to maybe read up on whether this is a piece based on themes from somewhere - but I couldn't find anything, so I assume that this is all your own original material?

Yeah, this is my own original material, just inspired by Medtner (as I've put it in my catalogue)

Really appreciate the feedback, thanks for commenting!

A very engaging work .... which requires very skillful players!  How would you categorize your work?  It has some many different melodic elements.

Mark

3 hours ago, MJFOBOE said:

A very engaging work .... which requires very skillful players!  How would you categorize your work?  It has some many different melodic elements.

Mark

 

In terms of structure:

• Introduction (b.1-8)
• A (b.9-24)
• B (b.25-40)
• C (b.41-64), I combine and develop both melodies from previous materials, while adding a new dance-like melody. Clarinet melody of b.41-42 and b.48-50 are from A, the ascending 5th motion of b.50-51 is from B. Clarinet theme gets repeated on the piano starting from b.53.
• B* (b.65-78), with the ostinato and thirds from the intro.
• Cadenza (b.79-100), contains materials from A and B.
• A* (b.101-120), I develop the theme a bit more with a climax at the end.
• B** (b.121-128), B theme with imitative counterpoint between piano and clarinet, transition to the Coda.
• Coda (b.129-142), the first part of which is the Introduction section paired with the B theme on the clarinet, b.137-142 is the beginning of A but more conclusive, b.141-142 on the piano is the B theme.

Edited August 16, 2025Aug 16 by ferrum.wav