Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale (Clarke)
Movements
i Prelude, ii Allegro, iii Pastorale
Notes
Composed in 1941 while Clarke was in the US, she wrote this of the piece: “The whole thing is very unpretentious: a short unassuming little prelude, an Allegro which I originally thought of calling a Toccata – as it gives both the players plenty of chance to show what they can do… The subject is more or less ‘mirror-writing’ and in the coda the instruments are, in addition, continually crossing one another. There is a long fugato section in the middle of the movement, after a second subject in pizzicato chords on the viola. The whole of the second movement should sound very spirited, and is, I think, quite effectively written for both parts. The third movement Pastorale is rather melancholy and nostalgic, ending in a very subdued way.”
