CONTEMPORARY CLARINET AND PIANO DUETS
Contemporary Music for Clarinet and Piano
The clarinet and piano duo is one of the most expressive and versatile pairings in contemporary chamber music. This page features Lior Navok’s Hidden Reflections for clarinet in A and piano, alongside a curated selection of modern repertoire written for this ensemble. The combination of clarinet and piano offers a wide palette of colors, from lyrical writing to agile, rhythmically driven passages, making it ideal for recitals and contemporary performance programs.
Video & Audio (Saxophone and piano version)
Duration:
15 minutes
Instrumentation:
clarinet (in A) and piano
Year Composed:
1996
Written For:
Styliani Tartsinis
Premiere Performance
(saxophone version):
16 December, 1997
Boston, MA, USA
Styliani Tartsinis, alto saxophone
Jenny Tang, piano
Related Music:
About Hidden Reflections
Hidden Reflections is a 15‑minute work for clarinet in A and piano, composed in 1996. The piece was originally written for saxophonist Styliani Tartsinis, who premiered and recorded the saxophone version. The clarinet version was created later, adapting the work’s expressive range, agility, and lyricism to the clarinet’s warm timbre and fluid phrasing. The piece unfolds in two contrasting movements. The March of the _______!!! is a grotesque, unstable march that shifts between odd and steady meters. The Evening of the First Snow is nostalgic and meditative, inspired by the quiet snowfall of a Boston winter night in 1996.
For the Performers
Level: Professional clarinetists; advanced conservatory students.
Programming: Strong choice for contemporary clarinet‑and‑piano recitals or programs built around narrative or image‑driven works.
About Clarinet and Piano Chamber Music
The clarinet and piano duo is central to the classical clarinet repertoire, offering composers a flexible and expressive medium.
Contemporary works often explore the clarinet’s wide dynamic range, fluid phrasing, and rhythmic agility, making this ensemble ideal for modern recitals and chamber‑music programs.
Contemporary Repertoire for Clarinet and Piano
This list includes essential masterworks for clarinet and piano.
Francis Poulenc – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
A lyrical and playful modern classic with a characteristically French penchant for wind instruments.
Leonard Bernstein – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
His first published work; it is rhythmic, energetic, and widely performed in the standard repertoire.
Carl Vine – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Contemporary writing with strong dramatic contrasts, known for its virtuosic and technically demanding nature.
Mieczysław Weinberg – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 28
Expressive, rich, and deeply atmospheric, written during the mid-20th century with neo-romantic intensity.
Magnus Lindberg – Ablauf (clarinet & piano version)
Virtuosic and texturally inventive, this piece explores complex modern sounds and aggressive rhythmic drive.
Lior Navok – Hidden Reflections
A two-movement contemporary work exploring shifting musical perspectives and contrasting characters.
Camille Saint-Saëns – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 167
A cornerstone of the repertoire known for its elegance, humor, and lyrical third-movement "threnody".
Johannes Brahms – Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 120
A profound, late-period masterpiece featuring rich romantic harmonies and deeply intimate melodic exchanges.
Paul Hindemith – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1939)
A significant 20th-century work utilizing "Gebrauchsmusik" principles with sturdy structures and neoclassical wit.
Arnold Bax – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
An evocative, two-movement English work characterized by its lush, pastoral lyricism and a brilliant, folk-inspired finale.