# Duettino no.2 for flute & clarinet



## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

Hi,

I posted here couple of months ago my duettino no.1 (2017) for flute & cello. I was supposed to have a live performance of it's sequel this March, but then covid happened and everything got cancelled. However, yesterday we were able to at least get a decent recording of it. It was recorded at a local church, which I managed to book for free (I work in a music school as a theory teacher and we have all of our concerts there, so I have a right to book the venue if there's no activity). It's probably the first time I didn't need to add any reverb while mixing as the church had a very beautiful natural reverb of its own.

This work is divided into four sections. The piece begins with a peaceful and mysterious intro, which has low intensity. The second part is more active and the piece reaches it's first climax around 2:34. Then another peaceful episode follows. After this the active part returns and is developed further. This leads into the concluding cadence aound 5:38. This is followed by a peaceful coda, which ends the piece.

I wanted to create a short and energetic piece, which also has peaceful and almost lyrical passages to balance the faster parts. I hope you like it!


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

I got completely into this Pekka. Everything is just right
here. Excellent imv.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

mikeh375 said:


> I got completely into this Pekka. Everything is just right
> here. Excellent imv.


Thank you very much Mike!


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Something I noticed before in the past I'd like to speak to. I always find your scores cluttered with too many accidentals. Maybe you prefer what you have. Clearly your real players handle them, but I think the excess accidentals will turn off potential other players

For example, the clarinet in m.4 has three D-flats. Give the player enough credit to know that after the first, the next two will also be flatted.

In m. 19, why not have the flute substitute the B-flat and D-flat for A# & C#, then no accidentals have to be shown on beat 3 (of course that means going back to m.18 to set up A# & C# by substituting there too)

And one more example, mss 36-37, Clarinet. In m. 36 the last 3 notes all have to have accidentals, but if you simply change the first (high E-flat to D#) then it sets up a cleaner m.37. Because in m.37 the E natural accidental would not be needed. The following C natural accidental was always unneeded. Now the next note, "A" really does not need a natural sign. The player is well into the new measure and will not be thinking about an A# that was in the middle of the previous. Don't let a notation program dictate courtesy accidentals. Think about which ones are really a good idea and which ones aren't.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

Thanks for your comments Vasks, they are very useful as always! You're of course right about my excessive use of accidentals,and I should do more clean up when finishing my scores, and I will actually do that with this score when I have the time. This is especially the case with unnecessary natural signs that sibelius likes to add to the next measure after a chromatic passage. However, I actually do like to use a lot of accidentals and even repeat them on the same measure when writing CCM. I personally find it easier to read highly chromatic scores that way, even if it's against general good practice on how to use them. I could be more consistent on how I use my accidentals though.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

I will add, that as much as I like accidentals, Vasks is right about finding more idiomatic ways of writing a certain passage and in the process one has to write less accidentals.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

I decided to do the clean up of the score now, and this is how it looks. I did not alter all the accidentals but removed the ones that I deemed unnecessary, I think it's easier to read now.

View attachment Pekka Koivisto-Duettino no2_cleaned up score_09_06_10.pdf


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

pkoi said:


> I did not alter all the accidentals but removed the ones that I deemed unnecessary


and I would not expect you too. It's all yours to decide.

But let me add more one element in my deciding what reads best when it comes to accidentals. It involves which enharmonic to chose. Writing quasi-tonal and atonal music (i.e. not using key signatures) doesn't mean we should not care which enharmonic to use. Take a look at the clarinet in m. 36. I would have used a B-flat instead of your A#. Why? Because the trained musician's ear when it sees the perfect fourth down (from the E-flat) and the minor 6th down from my "B-flat" to your low D is easier hear than the diminished 4th & augmented 5th that you have. Does that mean that all augmented or diminished intervals should be avoided? No, sometimes they're perfectly fine. But when you can, writing intervals that are major, minor or perfect are far quicker for the performer's inner ear to anticipate how it will sound.

I'd like to talk about other physical ways to clean up your scores that don't involve pitches/accidentals but I have no time right now.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

You're right about m. 36, that's pretty much a typo, of course it should be b-flat in that case. Of course using proper enharmonics and readability makes perfect sense, and it can affect intonation as well.


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## neofite (Feb 19, 2017)

Very nice and relaxing. And it almost seems to evoke somewhat of an image of Finland (or at least to me, anyway).

One beginner's question. I notice that the time signature changes very frequently, sometimes with every measure. Am I correct in assuming that this doesn't cause any difficulty for advanced players? In this context, would it be possible or practical to reduce the number of changes without affecting the final result?


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

Thanks neofite! I do sometimes consciously take inspiration from Finnish nature, and I use on my lieds almost exclusively Finnish poets. In this work, I did not intentionally try to evoke any Finnish landscapes, but of course I'm influenced by many of my fellow Finnish composers (Joonas Kokkonen & Magnus Lindberg especially). Frequent time signature changes are not too hard for the players, at least not in this piece anyway. It depends what kind of stuff is written within those measures and how complex the rhythms are.


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## TalkingPie (May 15, 2020)

Very interesting piece, with a nice interaction between the instruments.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

Thanks TalkingPie! When writing chamber music for small ensembles I always try to put special emphasis on the individuality of each stem, so that they sound good on their own and also interact interestingly between each other.


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