Today I want to explore the compositions of William O. Smith and the influence he had on extended techniques on the clarinet, specifically the use of the double clarinet.
Smith was an American composer who recently passed away in 2020. He won both the Prix de Paris and the Prix de Rome, as well as two Guggenheim grants, and he spent a large portion of his career teaching at the University of Washington in Seattle.
As a composer, Smith bridged the divide between classical and jazz music, and he became fascinated with extended techniques on the clarinet (Smith compiled the first comprehensive catalog of multiphonic fingerings for the clarinet). He is famous in the clarinet world for being the first to write music for “double clarinet,” meaning the performer plays two clarinets at one time. His piece Five Fragments utilizes this technique extensively:
After watching this performance, it is no surprise that Smith was also fascinated by electronic music. One of my favorite aspects of music like Five Fragments is how it stretches the audience’s expectations of what acoustic instruments are capable of. All of Smith’s compositions, to me, are a celebration of the instrument and the joy to be found in its sound capabilities.
Smith’s influence in clarinet composition is evidenced in the writings of Eric Mandat, a prolific composer who teaches at Southern Illinois University. Here is the same performer, Jack Liang, performing the first movement of Mandat’s piece Double Life, also for double clarinet:
There are so many interesting components to a movement like this. It plays with the idea of two contrasting characters in a very literal way; it utilizes multiphonics extensively; and it creates an experience of simultaneous sound coming from two separate directions, as the bells are pointed at different angles.
Some may consider pieces such as these as gimmicks, but I disagree with that judgment and would even say that these compositional techniques are now an essential part of this instrument’s future. After all, why can’t there be space for traditional performance as well as fun and innovative explorations of what this instrument is capable of?
Let me know what you think of these pieces in the comments!
