Divertimento for Clarinet and Strings -  Program Notes by Terry Mizesko

This work was commissioned by Michael Cyzewski of the North Carolina Symphony, and Scott Bridges, professor of clarinet at University of Alabama. Mike, Scott and I were colleagues at Governor’s School East in the early to mid 1980’s. I conducted the Wind Ensemble, Mike ran the chamber music program, and Scott worked on his golf game!

In 2002, the two clarinetists approached me with an idea for a large scale work for clarinet. They wanted it to be virtuostic for the instrument, scored for strings with possibly light percussion. They also wanted to celebrate our friendship by drawing on our various ethnic backgrounds. They suggested a set of variations, each different in “ethnicity”. Scott called it a “Friends Concerto”.

After some weeks of thought, I settled on a three-movement piece; the last movement would be a large Rondo portraying different ethnic styles. Because a concerto would provide limited performance opportunities, I suggested two versions: one for string orchestra with percussion in the last movement, the other for a chamber group without percussion. I renamed it Divertimento which I felt to be more appropriate.

I pay homage to two composers in this work: Haydn, the master craftsman turning out great pieces day after day, and Prokofiev, refreshingly tonal in his own personal way, at a time when a tuneful composition was not easily accepted.

Formally, the Divertimento is classical in nature. The first two movements are sonata form, the third as mentioned, a rondo. The rondo itself has melodic, harmonic and dance elements from Hungary, Slovakia, the British Isles, Poland, Russia and Italy. It is a celebration of our diversity and of our friendship.