William O. Smith’s “Microtonal Ritual”

In 2010, I immersed myself in the world of William O. Smith in order to write a paper on his compositional style as part of my D.M.A. qualifying exam at the University of North Texas. I read and listened to everything I could get my hands on in the short two weeks I had to write the paper, in awe at his story and his music. Fast-forward 8 years to the summer of 2018, when my now-friend Bill told me, after a session of improv at his house in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle, he wanted to dedicate his new work Microtonal Ritual to me! Here is the story of Microtonal Ritual and how I came to have the honor of working with Bill on it.

I first met Bill in person soon after I moved to Seattle in 2014, thrilled that I would finally be able to hear him play live. I spoke with him and sent him my research paper, and he responded very positively to it. I told him I planned to perform his Solo for Clarinet and Delay System on an upcoming recital, and he invited me over to his house for a lesson on the piece. I also interviewed him for an article in The Clarinet on the occasion of his 90^th birthday. After a few performances of that work, Bill invited me over along with James Falzone to do some improv and read a new Trio he was working on for two clarinets and bass clarinet. (It was originally intended to be a Trio for double clarinet and bass, but that turned out to be “too hard.”)

We met a few times in the summer of 2018, and Bill always had ideas to structure our improvisations — sometimes written-out, sometimes just a shape or form that he would describe verbally. At the end of one of these sessions, he mentioned he was working on a new work for two clarinet lower joints with mouthpieces on them. I expressed great interest and told him about how I had learned Five Fragments some time ago. He then said, “well, I guess I’m writing it for you then.” And that was that.

He generously gave me a lesson on the Five Fragments, and then we started working on Microtonal Ritual. He would give me a movement, we’d talk about it and I would try to sight-read it, and then I’d take it home to practice for a week or two. It was like learning new instruments each time. First we worked on the first and last movements for the lower joints of the B-flat and A clarinet played simultaneously. Then it was the third movement, for just a mouthpiece on a bell, with notes changed by opening and closing fingers on the bell. Then we moved to the fourth movement for just two mouthpieces with pitch controlled by opening and closing the hands, and then the second movement for just the A lower joint. Finally, we incorporated the gestures, which Bill wrote on yellow post-it notes and demonstrated for me in person.

Microtonal Ritual was premiered on Sept. 22, 2018, on Bill’s 92^nd birthday concert, along with his new Trio, for a beautiful audience of many of Bill’s longtime friends and Seattle clarinet colleagues. I am excited to be performing it at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee this July. Working with the great “William O.” on a new piece was an experience I will always cherish. His generosity, creativity, and passion are endlessly inspiring!