Prose Poem #36 for Wind Quintet in B-flat ("Lonian"/Lydian b7+3)

Poem: 

w-
wheigh-
waken
oh wheigh-
oh waken
glare...
...dithers
...flares
...n'fathom
...oblivio-

Explanation in score :).

Musescore.com Link

I have a love for minimalist, kinda hard to understand poetry like this. I have been in a composer's block for a bit and decided that wth, I'll make a score in the same way I've taken to poetry: With limitations and a time restraint.

You may disagree with my interpration of the scale, that is OK with me. It is more of a label than anything else, at least I struggle to find a clear tonic in pieces like these. Really the decision of the scale and therefore my naming of the piece in B-flat is just based on my initial limitation.

Microtonal fingerings have been tested (and measured) by me on the clarinet. For a player more clarity would obviously be involved (charts).

Explanation (5th page, not sent here because it includes personal information):
 

Poem explained:

w-
wheigh-
waken
oh wheigh-
oh awaken
glare [at the sun]
[the sun] dithers
[the sun] flares
[the sun does] n'fathom (=doesn't fathom)
[to your existence the sun is completely and utterly] oblivio-[us]

Liner note to composition:
I was experimenting with some notes on the clarinet and ended
in a fun pentatonic scale. In a throwback to an interest,
or perhaps an obsession, in obscure scales I had back around
the time of Covid, I decided to try to limit myself into an
odd scale. In B flat the scale is basically a Lydian with a minor
seventh and an augmented third. The intro and outro (solo parts)
experiment with some very small microtones I found on the clarinet.

For any additional information or questions, feel free to contact me

Written on the night between jan 4th and 5th 2026 while watching
the WJC ice hockey match between Finland and Sweden.

I don't know if this is proper but more of my poetry can be found on Poetrycircle.com under the name Pyrde

Hi @PaavolaPyry and welcome back to the forum!

I think the solo Clarinet line dancing microtonally around a single central tone in the beginning sets the stage well for the piece that follows and is yielded from that beginning line.  I feel the piece is very logical and cohesive.  I can listen to it many times in a row and not get bored of it - which I usually cannot do with an unaccompanied solo piece.  But this isn't unaccompanied and only starts that way which is a very entrancing way to start a piece that eventually becomes a Wind Quintet (although for some reason the instruments aren't labeled in your score?  Assuming that it's for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, French Horn, and Bassoon).  The harmony is dissonant but in a deliberate way that is very digestible (at least to me).  It somewhat reminds me of the slow Adagio movement of Mahler's 10th Symphony (the one movement he actually finished himself).  The microtones on the Clarinet don't seem to disturb the harmony but enhance it.  It's around the 4 minute mark where your Clarinet melody reminds me of Mahler 10 (measure 51).  I am a Clarinetist myself but haven't played in a while and wouldn't dream of using these extended techniques that you've employed here - but you're informed by your own experimentation so by all means keep going!  Great job and thanks for sharing!

Thank you @PeterthePapercomPoser, very kind words!

I have no idea why Musescore decided not to label the instruments, haven't had this issue before, and I only noticed it now😅. 

I'll check out Mahler. The inspiration came from a simple sort of I-bVII-II-bVII-I idea that was looping in my mind for some reason and somehow I ended up in this obscure scale while experimenting. Difficulty was to avoid it collapsing into an F major sound, but I think I managed to avoid that for the most part - although the tonic is unclear to me for most of the time.

As you are a clarinetist I'd like to ask, how would you prefer the fingerings to be shown? Should I stick a chart into the score? And how about the multiphonic in the end (just requires you to go a bit further down on the mouthpiece and adjust pressure): Idea is that both tones would be present.

Thanks!

15 hours ago, PaavolaPyry said:

As you are a clarinetist I'd like to ask, how would you prefer the fingerings to be shown? Should I stick a chart into the score? And how about the multiphonic in the end (just requires you to go a bit further down on the mouthpiece and adjust pressure): Idea is that both tones would be present.

Yeah, definitely include a key/legend of the extended techniques you use in the piece as is common for pieces that use extended techniques.  I personally have never tried to play microtones nor multiphonics on Clarinet so I would definitely need an explanation on how to achieve the necessary sounds.