Dana Paul Perna
PERNA'S PENGUINIAN POLKA for clarinet quartet
Bardic Edition BDE1167
For 3 x Bb Clarinets and bass clarinet. Score and parts included.
Having long admired the music of Raymond Scott (1908-1994), part of what made his output so unique was his ability to come up with some of the most outlandishly zany titles for his work. During the period in which he was popular, in competition with him for a different recording label, Alec Wilder (1907-1980) created an ensemble of eight musicians (e.g. flute/piccolo, oboe/English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, harpsichord, drums and bass) for which he composed some of his finest titles expressly for. In his case, while his ensemble was called "The Alec Wilder Octet", Wilder did not participate as a performing musician in the same way as Scott did (e.g. as pianist) in his "quintette". Nevertheless, what both composers shared in common were those idiosyncratic titles I alluded to earlier, with Wilder - an equally brilliant writer of words - coming up with some real gems of his own, such as "Jack, This is my Husband", "The House Detective Registers", "Neurotic Goldfish", "Dance Man Buys a Farm", and "Her Old Man Was Suspicious", among many others. (Many of these Wilder pieces rank among my favorite music by anyone, period.) With that spirit in mind - and holding an equal amount of respect for both polkas and penguins - I prepared Perna‘s Penguinian Polka for a clarinet quartet. Feeling that the title possesses a certain Wilderian-whimsy that seems to fit the music, how could I pass up a title that lent itself so perfectly to alliteration, especially one that my last name could actually fit in? This short piece celebrates the memory of jazz great, Buddy DeFranco (1923-2014), a truly great artist, and a clarinet master of the very highest level of excellence. Dana Paul Perna
Duration 3½ minutes
Having long admired the music of Raymond Scott (1908-1994), part of what made his output so unique was his ability to come up with some of the most outlandishly zany titles for his work. During the period in which he was popular, in competition with him for a different recording label, Alec Wilder (1907-1980) created an ensemble of eight musicians (e.g. flute/piccolo, oboe/English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, harpsichord, drums and bass) for which he composed some of his finest titles expressly for. In his case, while his ensemble was called "The Alec Wilder Octet", Wilder did not participate as a performing musician in the same way as Scott did (e.g. as pianist) in his "quintette". Nevertheless, what both composers shared in common were those idiosyncratic titles I alluded to earlier, with Wilder - an equally brilliant writer of words - coming up with some real gems of his own, such as "Jack, This is my Husband", "The House Detective Registers", "Neurotic Goldfish", "Dance Man Buys a Farm", and "Her Old Man Was Suspicious", among many others. (Many of these Wilder pieces rank among my favorite music by anyone, period.) With that spirit in mind - and holding an equal amount of respect for both polkas and penguins - I prepared Perna‘s Penguinian Polka for a clarinet quartet. Feeling that the title possesses a certain Wilderian-whimsy that seems to fit the music, how could I pass up a title that lent itself so perfectly to alliteration, especially one that my last name could actually fit in? This short piece celebrates the memory of jazz great, Buddy DeFranco (1923-2014), a truly great artist, and a clarinet master of the very highest level of excellence. Dana Paul Perna
Duration 3½ minutes
