Three American Pieces
for Clarinet in B-Flat and Piano
by Lukas Foss
Clarinet Solo - Sheet Music

Chamber Music Clarinet, Piano

SKU: CF.W2684

For Clarinet in B-Flat and Piano. Composed by Lukas Foss. Edited by Seunghee Lee. Arranged by Richard Stoltzman. SWS. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. 24+8 pages. Carl Fischer Music #W2684. Published by Carl Fischer Music (CF.W2684).

ISBN 9781491148990. UPC: 680160906499. 9 x 12 inches.

This edition of the beautiful Three American Pieces by Lukas Foss offers revisions by acclaimed clarinetist Seunghee Lee. As a student, Lee fell in love with clarinet icon Richard Stoltzman's original arrangement and would later work directly with Lukas Foss to improve the piece's playability for performance on the clarinet. Lee has been performing her version for years and in tandem with the release of this edition, she is also releasing the world-premiere recording of the piece on her album, Full Circle.
In the spring of 2005, I had the privilege of playing for Lukas Foss and workingdirectly with the composer on his Three American Pieces arranged for clarinet andpiano. This experience led to creating a revised version and it is my great honor topartner with the composer’s publisher, Carl Fischer, to publish this new edition.Over the years, after my performance of this piece at the Dame Myra Hess ConcertSeries in Chicago went on-line, I’ve received numerous inquiries about where to getthe sheet music, and since working with Lukas Foss, it has been a long time dreamof mine to someday record it. I’m delighted to finally fulfill that dream by releasing aworld-premiere recording, included in my album, Full Circle, and it doubles the joyto simultaneously launch this newly edited sheet music to share.As a student, I used to spend hours sifting through shelves of sheet music at musicstores like Patelson’s Music House in New York City, hoping to find new works to addto my collection. There, I stumbled upon the Three American Pieces included insideRichard Stoltzman’s Songbook, also published by Carl Fischer. This Songbook was fullof beautiful compositions especially written for him and arranged by him. When Iplayed through the Three American Pieces composed by Lukas Foss, I felt instantlyconnected and knew I had found a hidden treasure! Serendipity! But I also had manyquestions. There were no recordings of this piece on the clarinet at the time. I waslearning this piece on my own and found some places in the music to be out of rangefor the clarinet, especially in the third movement, as it was originally written for theviolin.I wanted to meet with the composer. When I inquired through Carl Fischer, to mysurprise, I got an invitation by Lukas Foss himself to meet him at his Upper WestSide apartment in New York City. I found him to be a gentle and kind-hearted manwho was very devoted to his work. During our meeting, I mentioned my concernsand bravely asked him if I could change some notes to make them more easilyplayable for the clarinet. He approved!I would like to acknowledge Richard Stoltzman, a clarinet icon of our time and along time friend of Lukas Foss, for his vision to be the first to arrange and transcribethis piece and paving the way for other clarinetists like me to enjoy. Big thanks tothe staff at Carl Fischer for working with me to publish this newly edited versionand giving it a new life, as a stand-alone piece. It is my wish that all of my fellowclarinetists will come to enjoy this fantastic gem as much as I have.