Clarinet Sonata

By Leonard Bernstein

This piece is really fun and challenging for the advanced high school player who's looking to play a real solo. I've been playing for about 6 years, and the clarinet part is a little difficult, but with a little practice you can get it down. However the piano...

part is ridiculous, you will have to be an expert pianist to pull it off. Overall I LOVE Sonata for Clarinet and Piano. If you're experience and want something fun to play or just want to improve your skills as a young musician you should buy it.

a difficult piece, not typical Bernstein - for an advanced pianist (also for clarinet I believe) Tough work, needs a lot of practice

I purchased this as a gift (not given yet) for my son who is an advanced clarinetist and his son (my grandson) who is an intermediate pianist. I hope they will enjoy playing it together--as I will certainly enjoy listening to them.

The Sonata for Clarinet and Piano by Leonard Bernstein shows that even at at early age, he was of two musical minds. It can be characterized as "Hindemith meets West Side Story." The first movement is very serious, but the second movement shows hints of his love for popular music...

and Broadway. It is a marvelous piece with an exciting, climactic ending.

This really is a fantastic piece, and one that your audience probably won't have heard of. I played this for my A2 Performance and had great fun doing so. The two movements are so diverse and varied, there is so much going on, put Bernstein maages to pull it...

all together perfectly. The final 30 seconds or so are electric, written to get higher higher and faster and faster it is a challenge put will give anybody the shivers. The counting is terribly difficult however if thought of in quavers hroughout the ticky parts you should be fine, with practise! Buy this is you're looking for a different challenge to step away from the norm, and have great fun doing so!