Finishing the piece

I realized I never concluded talking about how I came up with the ending. I wanted to continue dealing with each line of text uniquely. I was definitely trying to have a very free-feeling vocal line that was never really predictable, and almost sounded as though the singer was composing it while singing. I think that probably could have been accomplished with more cohesiveness in the music as well but I am still quite fond with the overall result.

I felt like the second half made more sense with the clarinet, or at least felt more like 3 equal parts than the first half. I think this was because I wrote the first half just trying to get an outline for chords and melody which turned into an established piano part and the clarinet had to fit in there somewhere. The solo, in the second half, and a lot of the duet-like motifs between the clarinet and the voice are probably my favourite parts. I love the way the timbre of voice and clarinet blends together. Also, Emily (singer) said that the second half was much easier for her to learn because of the interplay between the two instruments.

I chose to end it with a bit of a question mark, as opposed to a very satisfactory resolution which the uplifting last line of "dancing with the daffodils" might suggest. I like this poem and how it suggests either finding simple pleasures in life and thinking happy thoughts but I thought I would just conclude with the piano and clarinet having a last word after the daffodils to maybe point out that the narrator is still alone. This is not necessarily a depressing reminder but just a recall to the many times I characterized solitude throughout the piece, especially since that is how the poem and piece began!