Performance Practice of Interactive Music for Clarinet and Computer with an Examination of Five Works by American Composers (PDF)

My dissertation, available for download above, includes detailed discussion of performance practice issues in interactive music, informed by interviews with several clarinetists who specialize in performing this music.  Works for clarinet and computer by Lippe, Pinkston, May, Rowe, and Welch are discussed as they relate to these issues.  It is my hope that this document will be useful to performers and composers of interactive music, and contribute to the ongoing discussion about performance practice of works in this challenging but highly rewarding genre.

I compiled a listing of interactive works for clarinet that was included as an appendix in the dissertation.  I have converted this into a public spreadsheet that I can continue to add to and share with others.  If you have additions or corrections to this document, please e-mail me as my goal is for this to be a comprehensive and useful listing.

Interactive Works for Clarinet – Public Spreadsheet

from the dissertation:

It is not always easy to distinguish between interactive works and non-interactive works, but this listing attempts to do so.  It includes only works for clarinet or bass clarinet that are interactive, excluding works with fixed accompaniment (e.g., works for clarinet and tape) and works with only simplistic electronic “effects” that could be executed with analog pedals.  In addition, the list excludes interactive works for chamber ensemble of two or more players, with the exception of works for two clarinets and computer.  The list is limited to notated works for clarinet and computer; interactive systems designed as improvisational environments, without a notated clarinet part, have not been included.

Information about these pieces was obtained through various sources including performer interviews, dissertations, published articles, recordings, and websites of composers and performers.  In some cases it was unclear whether a work was truly interactive; the indication “clarinet and electronics” is particularly ambiguous.  In such cases, the decision to include the piece was based on information such as the date of composition, the composer’s other works, and direct communication with the composer.