About the Work

We thank the composer for sharing a few notes about her work:

The Divertissement was commissioned by conductor Peter Morris for his Thameside Clarinet Choir in London in 1991. The score was completed in the September of that year and the first performance followed in November 1991. 1992 saw at least two more performances of the piece, also in London by the Thameside Clarinet Choir.

The work is approximately 15-20 minutes long and has three movements. The music is tonal, tuneful and highly rhythmic, with varying colours and textures throughout. The first movement begins with a grand, slow introduction, leading into the Allegro Moderato, which announces the bright and cheerful main theme. A slower middle section uses the music from the introduction as well as an inner accompaniment figure of the main theme. There are various solos throughout, which would be played by the section leaders. The sunny main theme then returns towards the end to complete the movement.

The slow, second movement is the austere, serious side of the work, and seeks to express the more stark, creepy side of a clarinet choir. The textures are piercing, sometimes aggressive, dark and swirling.

The third and final movement, Rondo, is jolly, light-hearted and fun, and is possibly the most technically challenging movement of the piece. There are many time signature changes throughout and the music is fast, spiky, humorous and very mischievous. Again, there are various solos for section leaders, especially for the bass and E flat clarinets.

Instrumentation/Publication Details

Clarinet Choir:

• 2 Clarinets in E flat
• 1st Clarinets in B flat (minimum of 3 players)
• 2nd Clarinets in B flat (minimum of 3 players)
• 3rd Clarinets in B flat (minimum of 2 players)
• Alto Clarinet in E flat (minimum 1 player)
• Basset Horn in F (minimum 1 player)
• Bass Clarinets in B flat (minimum of 2 players)
• Contrabass Clarinet in B flat (minimum of 1 player)

The Alto clarinet and Basset horn parts are identical, to accommodate the needs of different choirs. Either can be used, or both together. Extended-range instrument NOT required for bass clarinet part. Score: 84 pages; Parts: length varies.

PDF Edition

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About the Composer

Geraldine Green was born in 1967. Her interest in music was awakened when she was 7 years old, during a holiday when she stayed with a family of musicians including the composer John Dunn. At 11 she began the clarinet and piano at the Belfast School of Music, where she studied until the age of 18. It was during this time that Geraldine's passion for composition began, and she began writing her first piano pieces and studying orchestration with the help and encouragement of her teacher Gerry Deignan.

In 1986 Geraldine went to the London College of Music to study clarinet with David Campbell and piano with Renalda Mackie. Following a 3 year degree course, she then completed a post graduate diploma in Film Music under Francis Shaw. By then the urge to write music could no longer be contained and in the years that followed she wrote a number of works. These included a Recorder Concertino, the Bass Clarinet Concerto, a Septet for string quintet, flute and harpsichord, and a concerto for B-flat clarinet and orchestra. During these years, Geraldine also wrote four musicals for Herne Hill Primary School in London.

Throughout the 1990s Geraldine taught clarinet and piano at Ibstock Place School in Roehapton, London, and this soon led to her producing orchestrations and arrangements for the school's orchestra, band and choir. Through this work she met Peter Morris who commissioned her to write a piece for his Thameside Clarinet Choir. The 3 movement Divertissement was the result. A clarinet quintet, commissioned by Michael Bryant for his clarinet 'play days' was soon to follow.

After a break in music writing to start a family, March 2008 saw Geraldine return to writing with a seven movement piece for piano, 'Miscellany'. The year 2009 saw the world premiere of her flute concerto, performed by flautist Gary Woolf (who commissioned the work) and the Chiltern Camerata in High Wycombe, UK, and conducted by composer Simon Lambros.

Geraldine is now married and lives in the UK with her family. She regularly plays clarinet and cello with local symphony orchestras, and also enjoys playing and writing traditional Irish Folk music. For further details on Geraldine Green please visit her website at GeraldineGreen.co.uk or at OakMountMusic.co.uk.