Prayer

Description

Clarinet in Bb, Piano — My music is often an emotional reaction to personal experience. I composed PRAYER shortly after finding out that a close family member was seriously ill. The piece is a prayer for hope and healing through the powerful language of music.In this version, PRAYER opens with the clarinetist emerging gently out of simple piano arpeggios. The melody flows seamlessly from beginning to end, with one long rising and falling line, punctuated periodically by expressive responses in the piano part. The work arcs twice, with imploring gestures in the clarinet’s highest registers, gradually descending into a place of peace. PRAYER is a rarity in the modern concert repertoire, beautiful romanticism built of a haunting aria for clarinet over a graceful piano accompaniment. Within the reach of younger players, the work was inspired as a prayer for the healing of a close family member. PRAYER’s acclaim among musicians has led to versions for orchestra, a variety of other solo instruments with piano, and as the slow movement of Harberg’s Concerto for Viola.