About the Work

Transitory Liaisons (2017), a work for four bass clarinets and percussion quintet, was commissioned by clarinetist Richard Nunemaker and corporate sponsors including Selmer Paris, Buffet Crampon, and D'Addario Woodwinds. The work was premiered at ClarinetFest 2017, in a performance featuring bass clarinetists Stephan Vermeersch, Rocco Parisi, Sarah Watts, and Sauro Berti.

We are delighted to add this exciting new ensemble work to our catalog. Each of the bass clarinet parts includes multi-phonics and slap-tonguing, but the work is not overly-reliant on such modern techniques. Only two of the four bass clarinet parts require extended-range instruments. Score: 70 pages, spiral bound. Parts: 6-10 pages, booklet.

Review

Quoting from a review of the work in the NACWPI Journal (Winter 2020-2021): "Featuring an eclectic instrumentation, Transitory Liaisons is an exploration of timbral sonorities and rhythmic intricacies. ... Transitory Liaisons is an innovative work that masterfully blends several styles into a cohesive and enjoyable composition that would make a great addition to any program."

PDF Edition

Purchasing this item will give you access to download the music as a PDF. If you would prefer to purchase a hard copy, please click here.

Listen to the premiere performance from ClarinetFest 2017:

Here is another recording, from the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK. The performance was conducted by faculty clarinetist Sarah Watts, who played in the premiere performance at ClarinetFest 2017:

About the Composer

Daniel Adams (b. 1956, Miami, FL) is a Professor of Music at Texas Southern University in Houston where he has served on the taught courses in music theory and composition since 1988. Adams holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (1985) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music from the University of Miami (1981) and a Bachelor of Music from Louisiana State University (1978). He is the composer of numerous published musical compositions and the author of many articles and reviews on various topics related to Twentieth Century percussion music, musical pedagogy, and the music of Texas. His book entitled The Solo Snare Drum was published by Honey Rock in 2000. He is also the author of two entries published in 2009 in the Oxford Encyclopedia of African-American History 1896 to the Present and has authored a revision of the Miami, Florida entry for the New Grove Dictionary of American Music (2013). Adams has served as a panelist and lecturer nationally and internationally, on topics ranging from music composition pedagogy to faculty governance. In 2011 he presented a composition Master Class at Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea. His music has been performed throughout the United States, and in Spain, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Turkey, Costa Rica, Argentina, Canada, and South Korea. His music is recorded on Capstone, Ravello, Summit, Albany, and Potenza Records.