Instrumentation

Clarinet Quartet (or Choir)

3 Bb, 1 bass (with alternate/optional parts for Eb, 4th Bb, and alto)
Early intermediate
Duration: 9’30” total (10 movements)
2015

Available from:
JW Pepper
Sheet Music Direct
Sheet Music Plus

Performance notes

These pieces are short and sweet in printed form, but back in the days of English country dancing, the musicians would have repeated them enough to allow all dancers to move through the forms. While I have generally kept the repeats as indicated by Mr. Sharp, I encourage groups to experiment with them. I have also refrained from indicating tempo and dynamic markings for a similar reason.

My initial intent with instrumentation is for three Bb clarinets and one bass. However, in the name of flexibility, I have provided alternate Eb, alto and 4th Bb parts. The 3rd part has some alternate notes for chord voicing purposes when using four Bb clarinets (no bass). The first part is the most active, so players may wish to rotate parts when playing several of these. Unfortunately, the bass player is on her own in that case.

Background notes

I blame it all on Pride and Prejudice, specifically the 1995 BBC miniseries. Like many of the Austen persuasion, I was captivated by the infamous dance scene between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wanted to find the music for that dance. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I not only learned the name of the dance, but also found the piano music in a scanned copy of a 1922 album of folk dances that were collected by Cecil J. Sharp.

The piece in question is titled “Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot.” Only familiar with our modern usage of the word “maggot,” I did some research. I discovered that, in this context, the word is loosely translated as “favorite” or “fancy.” That makes more sense!

As a clarinet player, I naturally wanted to transcribe this for clarinet quartet. However, it is such a short piece that I felt it needed to be in its own collection. Thanks to Mr. Sharp’s diligence in saving these tunes, I found several more maggots and fancies to include. I expanded some harmonic material and edited other sections.

In addition to those ditties I found, I decided to try my hand at composing my own. In writing these, I wanted to stay within the style as best I could. I give to you “Sassy’s Fancy” and “Esther’s Maggot,”  named after two of my cats.

I hope you enjoy playing these as much as I’ve had writing and arranging them.