The Black Cat (clarinet ensemble)

'The Black Cat' by Ian Deterling
Downloadable sheet music available at: www.iandeterling.com/the-blac...
The Black Cat is a piece about my cat, Béla. I was sitting next to a campfire behind my apartment when I suddenly heard a cat meowing behind me. I turned around and saw this beautiful black cat with green eyes. He walked towards me, slowly crawled up into my lap, and fell asleep. He didn't belong to any of the neighbors, and no one claimed him when I brought him to the Humane Society - so I adopted him and named him Béla. He's a playful and frisky cat that spends most of his time sleeping; however, Béla also gets into mischief once in a while... and I wanted to capture all of this in the music. This piece is about him - the black cat.
Instrumentation (7 players minimum)
- Eb Clarinet
- Bb Clarinet 1
- Bb Clarinet 2
- Bb Clarinet 3
- Bb Clarinet 4
- Alto Clarinet
- Bass Clarinet
- Contrabass Clarinet (optional)
Feel free to contact me directly at: www.iandeterling.com/contact

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Sheet music available at: www.iandeterling.com/the-black-cat-clarinet-ensemble

[@frantyozorawattilete4742]

thank youuuu. Cheers from Jakarta, Indonesia~

[@otaviovsdias]

Beautiful

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Thank you!!

[@Gear100]

really good!

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Thank you!! :)

[@clarinet31shanti]

Very Nice 🙂

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Thank you!! :-)

[@majorfifthmusic]

Whatta banger! 🐈‍⬛

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Still need to make a video with the contra alto part!!! 🐟 🐈‍⬛

[@salvatoreschembari2700]

Compliments

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Thank you!!

[@QuandaleDingleProductionz]

This is cool! I have a sextet and I'm looking for some music we can play. However, we don't have Alto Clarinet. Would we be able to play this without it?

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Thank you! Yes - you'd be able to play without the Alto Clarinet part - but there are a couple of spots that might seem a little thin (like from 111 to 118 when it's harmonizing the bass clarinet and Cl. 4 - I'd recommend simply adding a few notes in the Cl. 3 part when needed!)

[@QuandaleDingleProductionz]

@@iandeterlingchannel I notice in the beginning the Alto is doing quintuplets while other parts are doing sextuplets or 16th notes, would i have to give this part to one of the other clarinets too?

[@iandeterlingchannel]

@@QuandaleDingleProductionz There are a few places where it will sound a little thin without the Alto Clarinet (example being the section starting at 58). It will still work as a piece minus the alto clarinet part though!

[@HelloIAmNextToYou]

Why is the Contra bass in treble clef and not bass?

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Clarinets today are almost always written in treble clef (there are some older notation systems that would use bass clef, but those systems are generally not used today). The contrabass clarinet is a transposing instrument - it sounds two octaves and a major second lower than written.

[@HelloIAmNextToYou]

@@iandeterlingchannel ohhh ok tysm!

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Also - the reason for this is so that clarinetists can jump from one clarinet to another and not have to worry about learning completely new fingerings.

[@HelloIAmNextToYou]

@@iandeterlingchannel oh that’s interesting, and I’m guessing that contralto clarinet is 2 octaves lower than written and is a minor third up?

[@iandeterlingchannel]

You're correct! Although I tend to think of it as an octave and a major 6th haha :)