for Clarinet Quartet
Instrumentation:
- Bb Clarinet 1
- Bb Clarinet 2
- Bb Clarinet 3
- Bb Clarinet 4
Program Notes:
The grieving process is a process of many emotions. Many seem to think, or want to think, that it merely consists of sadness, this is of course not the case. Grieving can take many emotional forms; anger, loneliness, shock, immense anxiety, and even, in some instances, an odd sense of contentment for one’s self, or that of who they have lost.
On Sunday, March 23rd of 2025, I lost someone very close to me; my loving Nana. She passed peacefully, and her death was immensely felt by all of my immediate, and extended family. My grieving process of her started that night, and from then on, I have felt a wide range of emotions. Sometimes, it was a deep loneliness that was impossible to describe, other times it was a feeling of contentment that she was no longer in pain and now in a better place, and sometimes it was even just a heavy wash of anger that the world had taken someone so wonderful out of my life. All of these are part of the process, and all of them played a role in some way in coming up with the overall idea for this piece, and the execution of the emotional content of the work.
To Set Free A Dove is not necessarily an elegy, or meditation on the life of my grandmother, such a piece would be full of unabashed joy and excitement, whilst also touching on her loving side. Instead, this piece is in some sense how I view the grieving process. The music is at times oddly elated, and “floaty” in some way, as in the beginning. As things get more active and louder, confusion and anxiety come into play. These louder moments are often sandwiched between transitional “lonely” episodes of a single voice, or two softly speaking. The volumetric climax of the work is dissonant and uncomfortable – the clarinets effectively screeching to a halt with only silence to precede it; anger and loneliness combined to make an uncomfortable bed of emotion. The closing calls back to the beginning of the work, with the elated feel, and here there is a slight sense of contentment at the end of the work.
I am not a religious person by any means, but I have enough respect for someone and their own beliefs. My grandmother was a devout and committed Christian, and I truly, out of not only out of love for her, but
out of respect for her, and her future in our cosmos, do believe that she is in Heaven at this moment.
This piece is not only dedicated to her, but is my way of letting her free as a dove with utmost possibility and potential in our endless, bountiful skies.
Dana Marlene Bradley: November 13, 1949 – March 23, 2025
Score Video/Audio:
Performance Materials Available Directly from the Composer.