Many of you -- recipients of these weekly emails -- are friends whose faces I’ve seen a thousand times. Others are friends I’ve never met and probably never will. It used to seem strange to claim folks as friends without having met them but social media has rendered it commonplace, expanding our definition of friendship.

One such is Peter Stoll of Toronto. When I sent my “Variations on a Theme by Grandma Moses” to all the clarinetists on my database, Peter made a youtube of his performance of it, which I shared with you exactly a year ago.

Now Peter has kindly done it again, this time recording my “Variations Plain & Simple,” written in January.

I asked Peter to describe himself for you:

“I'm a sort of clarinet poly-glot: I play many sizes of clarinet, plus a few of saxophone, and in a range of styles. I started out working mainly in contemporary classical music ensembles, but have branched back into doing a lot of orchestral concerts, chamber music and solo recitals too. I played as a frequent occasional clarinetist in musicals here in Toronto, when we had a "Broadway boom" in the 90's. I got known for covering many sizes of clarinet and saxophone, once covering 4 consecutive solos in a rehearsal of Ravel's Bolero (the conductor never forgot that one!).

“I teach at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. I've gone from starting one clarinet student to teaching three performance and music education courses and coaching chamber music. I have a large studio of clarinetists today. So professionally I've been a survivor, moving from activity to activity.

“I find pleasure in the simplest yet most profound level of music-making and teaching: the joy of creating beauty in sound.”

This latest set of variations resulted from the pandemic. It’s meant to be of use to musicians who, ‘stuck at home,’ are exploring the solo repertoire. The theme is original, tender and American-sounding, like a folk hymn or a love theme from a Western.

The light-hearted character of the piece is confirmed when “Entrance of the Gladiators,” Fučik’s famous circus march, briefly invades a chromatic variation about a third of the way through the piece.

Later, there’s an homage to the folk tune “Shenandoah” and a touch of reverence when a wisp of Bach’s “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” is heard in the coda.

After Peter made this youtube, I expanded the cadenza that begins at ms. 205. I mention this in case you notice the minor discrepancy between what you’ll hear in the youtube and what you’ll see written at that point in the score.

(If you are a flutist or an oboist and would like to play this piece, let me know and I’ll send you an appropriately transposed version: G major for flute, F major for oboe. I also have a version for solo trumpet, cast in E flat major for.)

This video reminds non-musicians that music-making is physical. Because music brings us to a certain ‘state of mind’ and because a ‘state of mind’ is intangible, we sometimes half-forget that, every time we hear music, it is because someone has exerted themselves and in a particular place. Breath, muscles, posture and a disciplined intellect are required. Acoustics, temperature, time of day, even humidity, influence a performance, to say nothing of the clarinet reed, a source of endless frustration and concern for clarinetists.

The physical setting of the performance also contributes, as you will see when you view Peter, so relaxedly, playing this piece in the comfort of his lovely home.

Thank you, musicians, for all you do. Humanity salutes you!

To hear and watch Peter Stoll playing “Variations Plain & Simple,” copy and paste this link into your browser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZISy0ImmiQ&feature=youtu.be

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.