Clarinet Quintet in C minor, 2nd movement: Scherzo: Presto con confuso (Remastered final version)

Hi! I am continuing my revision on my old work. This is the 2nd movement of my Clarinet Quintet in C minor, which is completed 4 years ago and I'm revising it. Thx to my friend @Thatguy v2.0 for making the audio!

To me this is probably the worst movement in the piece, but only because it's the most one dimensional one: After the discovery of despair in the 1st movement, I started to fall into confusion and craziness of despair. Ironically this movement is written in a neat Sonata form with the structure presented below:

0:00 First subject, exposition. Start right from the despair Eb-D-C-B motive in quick Scherzo time to represent the fury and confusion of despair. Clarinet joins in 0:31, still playing at the despair motive, and in 0:33 the whirling figure using despair motive signifying the confusion is introduced.

1:27 Transition, exposition. I like this pizz. theme myself for how sarcastic it is.

2:34 Second subject, exposition. In F minor. A more "reasonable" theme finally with major keys visited, although finally succumbed to the confusing despair. I always go to F minor instead of G minor for the secondary key of a C minor movement for its darkness.

3:46 Development. Continue with the confusion by quickly modulating to different keys. I really love the 3:59 passage with a Brahmsian turn to a German sixth chord in 4:09! The fury ends with a "transcended" sadness in Neapolitan C# minor in 5:20 with a clarinet solo, but sarcastically laughed off by pizzicato strings in another Brahmsian German sixth.

5:49 First subject, recapitulation. Excitement reduced after a suffocating development. In 6:02 obviously I learn from Beethoven's 5th for that famous solo oboe passage. I love how fierce it is in 6:38.

6:47 Transition, recapitulation. Shorter than exposition's transition. I hate exact repetitions.

7:25 Second subject, recapitulation. Same as the one in exposition except in tonic key. Notice how relative major Eb major is finally used with some emphasis for the very first time in the piece, as the confrontation of B flat carried by E flat major and B natural by C minor of the despair motive would be the main battlefield later on.

8:38 Coda. One last cry and I am exhausted by the despair, thus ends the movement in tired pizzicato chords. Only with this exhaustion do I have the motivation to excavate the true reason behind the despair, which would be the main theme for the 3rd movement.

Here is the score and youtube video of the movement :

(For YT)Clarinet Quintet in C minor 2nd mov Final Version 20260707.pdf

Harmonically I deliberately play with chord progression of augmented triad keys to reinforce that particular chord both horizontally and vertically, as well as resonating with the despair motive.

Hope you enjoy this one and offer some critique to the movement!

P.S. This is the 1st movement of the remastered version of the work:

Henry

Some interesting key changes throughout the piece with fun and playful motives. My favorite part by far is around the 4:20 section. Beautiful melody here shared between the clarinet and the cello with some nice key changing here as well. The fast pace of the scherzo is fun but not overwhelming, especially since you break up the pace a bit especially at around 5:30. BTW, the part at around 5:30 to 5:40 reminds me of Chopin followed by Tchaikovsky!

Oh, and 7:30 is a great part as well! I feel like you intertwine your melodies in this section which is definitely more Beethoven-esque. But this is a fantastic movement, I definitely hear influences of your other works in this piece.

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu!!
This is an energetic piece that keeps the listener engaged from start to finish.
The dynamics are well crafted, and the other instruments really complement the clarinet.
I was surprised by the sudden shift at the 3:15 markーit’s inventive.
I also like the section around 5:27.
The ending is really nice too.
The clarinet melody around 1:53 is catchy, too; I imagine its qualities would shine in a live performance.
Just picturing a musician bringing out those nuanced dynamics... it would be so wonderful!
You’ve created a fantastic piece, well done!

Best,

Lithl.

On 8/8/2026 at 1:49 PM, chopin said:

Some interesting key changes throughout the piece with fun and playful motives. My favorite part by far is around the 4:20 section. Beautiful melody here shared between the clarinet and the cello with some nice key changing here as well. The fast pace of the scherzo is fun but not overwhelming, especially since you break up the pace a bit especially at around 5:30. BTW, the part at around 5:30 to 5:40 reminds me of Chopin followed by Tchaikovsky!

Oh, and 7:30 is a great part as well! I feel like you intertwine your melodies in this section which is definitely more Beethoven-esque. But this is a fantastic movement, I definitely hear influences of your other works in this piece.

Thx Mike! I think in the 4:20 section I keep having the same melody repeating, so I need to have instrumental changes in order to be less monotonous and appear more skilful lol. I like the 7:30 passage too and I agree it’s Beethovanian with its lower register!

Henry

Hi @Lithl !

Thx for your review!

On 8/8/2026 at 6:33 PM, Lithl said:

This is an energetic piece that keeps the listener engaged from start to finish.
The dynamics are well crafted, and the other instruments really complement the clarinet.
I was surprised by the sudden shift at the 3:15 markーit’s inventive.
I also like the section around 5:27.
The ending is really nice too.
The clarinet melody around 1:53 is catchy, too; I imagine its qualities would shine in a live performance.
Just picturing a musician bringing out those nuanced dynamics... it would be so wonderful!
You’ve created a fantastic piece, well done!

I learn from my past failure and you can check out my first post here, it’s the earlier version of the quintet and the dynamic there is so bad 🫣 To me this movement is about dark and crazy energy despair brings me. The 1:53 melody is a sarcastic one to play with, and 5:27 even more sarcastic when I failed to claim transcendence for my suffering haha. The ending represents the exhaustion of energy with pizzicato as this gives way to internal reflection for the 3rd movement (which I consider the best movement of the work), so stay tuned!

Henry

My dear friend, Henry

I really enjoyed going through this Scherzo. There is so much musical thought behind it, and I found myself discovering something new with every page. What impressed me most is the way you handle the texture: the voices are constantly interacting, imitating, answering and overlapping one another, creating a very alive and organically developing musical surface. It never feels like simple accompaniment supporting a main line — the whole ensemble seems to breathe and move as one.

I particularly loved the development section. I think this is where your compositional thinking really comes through. The way you take small fragments of the thematic material, redistribute them between the instruments, transform them rhythmically and harmonically, and gradually build the tension is extremely effective. There is a genuine sense of motivic development rather than simply repetition, and I found that especially satisfying as a composer.

The harmonic language also really caught my attention. I absolutely loved the modulations throughout the movement — some of them are wonderfully unexpected, yet they feel completely natural within the musical logic. I particularly enjoyed how the harmonic changes are connected to changes in colour and texture, rather than functioning merely as changes of key. There were several moments where I felt a beautiful Schubertian quality, especially in the harmonic movement and the way certain ideas seem to expand almost organically. In other passages, however, I was reminded of Brahms, particularly in the density of the inner voices, the motivic development and the richness of the harmonic texture. I found that combination very fascinating.

I also really enjoyed the character of the Scherzo itself. It has this wonderful mixture of playfulness, darkness, nervous energy and even a certain sense of irony. The “confuso” aspect is not simply created through speed, but through the interaction of rhythmic layers, accents, articulation and constantly shifting instrumental roles. That gives the movement a very distinctive personality.

As a composer, what I appreciate most is that beneath all the technique there is a genuine musical personality. I can feel that you are not simply trying to write something “effective” for the ensemble; you have a very clear musical imagination and your own way of thinking about harmony, texture and development. That is something I respect enormously.

It was a real pleasure to study this, my friend. I know how much you appreciate my own music, so I want you to know that the admiration is absolutely mutual. I have great respect for your work, and I genuinely enjoyed spending time with this movement. Congratulations on a beautiful and very thoughtfully crafted Scherzo! ❤️