The term “licorice stick” is an American slang term for the clarinet developed during the heyday of big band clarinet playing in the 1930’s. It’s a delicious term, as elegant in its metaphor as it is playful in its imagery. I have felt for some time now that there are five Western European instruments that can be seen as cultural vehicles, successfully transforming European musical sensibilities into new forms of music developed in North America. These are the piano (ragtime, boogie, gospel), the clarinet (swing, big band, Dixieland), the saxophone (jazz, bee-bop, funk), the trumpet (hotclub-swing, ragtime, bee-bop, funk, jazz), and the guitar. I love these instruments, and strive to compose abstract musical compositions that study them as a solo voice, or in combinations. “Licorice Stick” relies heavily on musical imagery of the big-band and boogie era, by placing left-hand piano boogie patterns, and abstract references to boogie drumming prominently in the piano. Throughout the piece, the clarinet rides on top of the piano textures, breaking free from time to time for solo passages. “Licorice Stick” was commissioned by Stefan Harg and Katarina Strom-Harg, who premiered the piece at the International Clarinet Festival in Stockholm, Sweden, July 2, 2002.

— Libby Larsen