Music archive entry

There are three movements, Allegro, Andante con moto, and Moderato These brief pieces were published in 1972 for the conventional 'reed trio' of oboe, clarinet, and bassoon but the composer (whose studies had included the clarinet under two fine players, Frederick Thurston and George Anderson) suggested that the Miniatures could also be played by three clarinets, noting in the score that in this version 'the slight difference in tone and colour betwen the B flat and A instruments is most desirable'.

Th first piece contrasts phrases stretching beyond an octave, played by each instrument in turn, followed by chordal crunches and dynamic changes. In the second, a three-note 'motto' of two intervals of a fifth (played by the trio in octaves) repeatedly leads to chords. The last movement's 'ben marcato' opening section is followed by tranquil, slower, and more legato music, which leads back to the opening mood, but with the instruments' roles and registers interchanged.