FSU’s Dazzling Clarinet Ensemble

The FSU Clarinet Ensemble’s performance on Tuesday, December 2 took the crowd through what would be played in the background of a Jane Austen film. Sierra Green, Sydney Hoffman and Mark Gallagher began the performance with a piece by Mozart, “Divertimento No. 3 in Bb Major, K. 439b.” Gallagher is not only a musician, but a professor and a clinician. He played the bass clarinet, which stood out and brought a pleasant roughness to each song it was played in. Often times, Green’s and Hoffman’s clarinets played the same notes at one time and created a beautiful harmony, but it was still clear that there were two b-flat clarinets.

The entire clarinet ensemble came in directly after. The first holiday-themed piece that the ensemble played was the “Romanian Christmas Suite.” This piece was not what was expected because it did not necessarily sound like typical Eastern European or Christmas music. The other holiday pieces performed included “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” “Deck the Halls,” and “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

“‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” featured both the clarinet ensemble and a narrator, Trace Livengood. This particular piece was unlike the rest; the music and the narration gave a visual of the picture-perfect night before Christmas.

The clarinet ensemble consists of primarily clarinet majors and minors. The clarinets featured in this ensemble consisted of the b-flat clarinet, a bass clarinet and a contra alto clarinet. The next clarinet ensemble will be held April 27, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall. There are still several events that the Department of Music is putting on this semester, and there are many more to come next semester.