About the Work

Program note courtesy of the composer:

This piece was written in 2016 with a specific clarinet quartet in mind: The Clarinet Fugue from Malaysia. The idea is to combine several short motives while maintaining musical interest in them within the technical abilities of the players. A challenge in writing this composition was the incorporation of jazz idioms, with which I wanted to give the piece a light-hearted character and, at the same time portray my musical experience in America through jazz. Duration: 4 minutes.

Quartet: 3 clarinets and bass clarinet. Score: 14 pages, spiral bind; Parts: 3 pages each, booklet format.

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About the Composer

Shao Fern Teo (b. 1992) is a Malaysian-born composer, pianist, and violinist. Her musical style stems from her background in classical training, Chinese and English popular music, as well as church hymns and contemporary worship music. Her music is accessible and rooted in her creativity with tonality and instrumentation. Fern started her musical training on the piano, and later picked up the violin and composition. As a composer and performer, she is experienced in collaborating works with musicians and artists.

Fern attended INTI International University, Malaysia under the American Degree Transfer Program, and later transferred to the University of North Texas. As a multi-scholarship recipient, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree (summa cum laude) from the University of North Texas in 2013, where she studied composition with Joseph Klein and Kirsten Broberg. Fern studied composition with Clifton Callender at Florida State University and graduated with a Master of Arts in Music in 2016. She participated in the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Film Scoring Institute in the summer of 2016 under the tutelage of the Institute Director, Thomas Haines.

Listen to a live performance from Florida State University (2016), featuring Thomas Rowat, Darius Bennett, Joan Fuchs, clarinets; Lilly Haley, bass clarinet:

Read the Review:

This delightful new work (2016) for a quartet of three B-flat clarinets and bass clarinet will make a fine addition to any recital. It is jazz and pop-inflected while never tilting towards the saccharine or cheesy. Students (and professionals) will enjoy playing it, and audiences of all types will appreciate this work a great deal.

Technical considerations in this piece are fairly minimal. It would be appropriate for advancing high school quartets and younger collegiate groups. What challenges exist come in the form of syncopated rhythms and quite independent parts. For younger players, this piece will aid in the further development of rhythm and counting. Further, each of the four parts receives a considerable amount of exposure as the principal voice. No range concerns exist, as the first part is the only one to venture above an A above the staff, and that is only fleetingly.

This piece comes highly recommended. Especially if this is to be included in a program of more musically serious literature, the work will serve as a contrast that will draw in non-musicians in the audience. All the while, it is still a high-quality work worthy of study and rehearsal by young musicians and professionals.

- Andrew J. Allen, NACWPI Journal, Fall 2017; Volume 65, Issue 1