Virtuoso Arrangements

Virtuoso Arrangements

In spite of Ponchielli's longstanding friendship with B-flat clarinet soloist, Alessandro Peri, he created no new music for him. Instead, he made wind band transcriptions of various virtuosic works based on operatic themes by other clarinetists, most prominently fellow Cremonese,Luigi Bassi (1831-1871). Though listed below, an edition of the Lucia di Lammermoor "concerto" cannot be completed as there is no extant copy of the solo part. As in the case of II Convegno, Ponchielli provided only a partial solo part. Bassi's duo on La Sonnambula was likely performed by Peri and E-flat clarinet soloist, Francesco Ottoboni. The setting of a "concerto" on I Puritani by Bassi was completed in July, 1865, as (perhaps) Ponchielli's concerns about the band were surfacing. No dates can be found for Domenico Mirco whose two selections are transformed in Ponchielli's hands. The clarinet "concerto" is based on a Neapolitan folksong, Venne la barca. Ever the master technician, Ponchielli tightened up loose ends in the introductory and intermediate sections. For Ottoboni, Ponchielli arranged and transposed up the interval of a fourth Mirco's "fantasia" on Donizetti's Beatrice di Tenda. A single work by Ernesto Cavallini (1807-1874) completes these works. Characterized as a "concerto," it is based on Donizetti's comic opera L'elisir d'Amor.

Due to the partnership with Fred Ormand, Emeritus Professor of Clarinet at the University of Michigan, all of these examples will be represented only by a PDF of the original score that can be saved and shared but not printed and an MP3 of only the original version. However, the solo parts to all of these works are available at each page for printing and study.

Concerto per Clarino sull'opera Lucia di Lammermoor di Bassi, ADD 27, PP.50.12

Concerto per Clarino sull'opera I Puritani di Bassi, ADD 28, PP.52.08

Duetto di Concerto sulla Sonnambula di Bassi, Op. 201, PP.136.4

Concerto per Clarino di Mirco, ADD 50, PP.55.01

Fantasia sulla Beatrice di Tenda di Domenico Mirco trasportato per Piccolo Clarino in Mib, Op. 241, PP.138.12

Concerto per Clarino sull'opera L'Elisir D'Amor di Cavallini, ADD 33, PP.52.05