In 1986 I began a “Lyric Quintet” for Clarinet and String Quartet, composing two movements of the projected three that year. As a clarinetist, I'd always been inspired by the Brahms and Mozart quintets, and I'd also recently been excited to hear Eddie Daniels' recent recordings of jazz clarinet with symphony orchestra.

Work on the quintet was interrupted soon after the second movement as I became a father for the first time and then was fortunate to have a string of commissions with deadlines; as a result I had to put the Lyric Quintet aside until 1992.

Coming back 6 years later with a fresh point of view, I decided this would be better for Clarinet and String Orchestra.  This change to a larger string ensemble allows the thick jazz chords to be played more richly and smoothly, allows the contrasts of solo strings and tuttis, and brings the advantages of having a conductor. Having started life as intimately blended chamber music rather than a concerto, the music tends to use the clarinet as a balanced ensemble member at least as much as a soloist, and there are also many solo passages for strings. Only the third movement was originally conceived for full string orchestra, leading the final movement to have more dramatic contrasts between clarinet and strings. The music has a light, summery feel, and the friendly relationship of the clarinet to the strings somehow struck me as a solstice-like meeting point, therefore the title “Summer Solstice.”

The work was premiered in Philadelphia on March 31, 1994 by Orchestra 2001 conducted by James Freeman, with Arne Running as clarinet soloist.

As a high school student in 1973 and 1974, I spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival studying composition and saxophone, and I was fortunate to become friends there with clarinetist John Bruce Yeh.  Even at 17 John was a remarkable player by the highest standards, and he premiered a lot of difficult music and was given many performing opportunities that were generally reserved only for the top faculty. Although we hadn't stayed in touch over the years, in 1994 I sent John a recording of Summer Solstice following the premiere, and this has led to a fortunate reacquaintance with many performances by John of Summer Solstice.

AUDIO EXCERPTS of John Bruce Yeh's performance with the Haddonfield Symphony conducted by Alan Gilbert:
      from Mvt. 1
      from Mvt. 2
      from Mvt. 3