Instrumentation:	Bass Clarinet Solo
Duration:	17 Minutes
Premiere Performance:	September 25, 1993, St. John's, NF (Lamaison)
Performances:	October 6, 1993, Corner Brook, NF
	October 12, 1993, Corner Brook, NF
	August, 1996, St. John's, NF
	August 19, 1996, Corner Brook, NF
Broadcasts:	October 3, 1993 (CBC Musicraft)
Recording:	LYRE: Chamber Music for Clarinet (Canadian Music Centre)
Sample Performance on CD	The Performance of August, 1996
Sample Performance Quality:	Very Good
Commission Details	Commissioned by Etienne Lamaison

Programme Note A LAMAISON, Opus 48, for Bass Clarinet Solo, was written for and (as the title indicates) is dedicated to the French clarinettist Etienne Lamaison, whom I met while I was resident in the Leighton Artist Colony at the Banff Centre in 1991. A LAMAISON was completed during my second residency in the Leighton Colony in July 1993. I wished to convey through this piece the great joy that our friendship holds for me, and also to provide an opportunity for Mr. Lamaison to display his technical expertise and musicality. The work is in three movements. The first movement reflects the influence and inspiration of the Bach Sonatas for Solo Violin, and uses material derived from a musical transliteration on the name Etienne Lamaison (which first appears as an upward arpeggio at the end of a downward 3-octave chromatic scale). The material is transformed into an accompaniment figure over which a melody eventually appears. At the end of the first movement, this melody is presented in isolation. The third movement is in the form of a three-part fugue. The second movement is more reflective, using material derived from the musical transliteration of the name of my mother, who died in 1988. Indeed, the piece is sub-titled In Memoriam Matris ("in memory of my mother"). This reflects the great emotional and symbolic importance of this work for me. It bears the opus number 48, which corresponds to the year of my birth. In honour of my mother, I have quoted the theme from my earlier work In Memoriam at the end of the second movement. But In Memoriam was also the first work of mine that Mr. Lamaison played, in an emotional and stunning performance in Banff, 1991. The memory of that performance, and especially the memory of the friendship that developed from that pivotal experience in my life and career, as well as the memory of my mother, are all part of the creative fabric of A LAMAISON. I am also aware of the alternative connotation of the title: à la maison ("at home"). The phrase is symbolic to me of security, of warmth, of trust, of love. I have spent many wonderful hours in the Lamaison home in Angers, France. The entire Lamaison family has that rare ability to make strangers, guests, feel completely "at home," à la maison chez Lamaison. This work, therefore, is also a tribute to them.

Etienne Lamaison, Bass Clarinet