Shadow Dance

In Shadow Dance the clarinet has the main role and the work is in its form threefolded. It has its origin in three short and rather simple melodies that gradually have been prolonged and given a greater degree of complexity. The melodic material is in certain respects the same all the time and has been inserted into itself repeatedly in several layers.

By the use of a composition technique I call “prismatic canon”, the melody of the clarinet is spread in different directions, like a beam of light through a prisma.

Two shadows (or projections) is created on each side of the clarinet melody. One shadow is played by the piano and the other by flute, violin, viola and cello. Their melodic movements have a more commenting character and forms a contrast to the melody of the clarinet which is more steadily moving forward.