Clarinet, Interrupted—Program Note

Clarinet, Interrupted uses the technique of interruption to stop the driving flow of the music and introduce a quiet theme that grows from a few notes to many measures long. Eventually the piece halts its headlong rush to fully deal with the interruption material in a slow center section. Once this interruption has worked itself out, the faster material reappears without the previous interruptions having welcomed the interruption theme into the original themes. This work was written for, and dedicated to, Julia Heinen.