28 February 2026

Scoring: solo clarinet in A + 2fl.2ob.1cl.2bn-2hn.2tpt-timps-strings

Duration: c. 7 minutes

Availability of performing materials: Score and parts on IMSLP https://imslp.org/wiki/Andante_for_Clarinet_and_Orchestra_in_D_major_(Smith%2C_Alice_Mary)

I first came across the Andante by Alice Mary Smith (1839-1884) on the recommendation of Chester Sinfonia’s principal clarinettist, Irena Emberson.   I have programmed it subsequently with Hope Metropolitan Concerts society where the soloist was Anne James.

Smith was an English composer who took private lessons with William Sterndale Bennett and produced a large body of works including two symphonies, three string quartet, six overtures, sacred and secular choral works. In 1870 she wrote a Duo Concertante for clarinet in A and piano for the well-known clarinettist Henry Lazarus with whom she gave the premiere. This version was later published as a Clarinet Sonata and the Andante forms the middle movement of the three-movement work. How or why Smith came to arrange it for clarinet and orchestra is currently unknown and there is speculation that she might have intended to arrange the entire sonata as a concerto for clarinet and orchestra.

It is an ideal work to showcase a good clarinet player from within a leisure-time music group with an attractive main theme and some virtuosic moments in the middle section despite the fairly relaxed tempo.

I have used the downloadable parts from IMSLP but it is worth checking the solo clarinet part, published By Hildegard publishing Company and edited by Ian Graham-Jones and Richard Platt, against the IMSLP materials as there are a few inaccuracies in the online version. For example,

b. 47 violin 2, second quaver should be E4 not D4

b. 50 solo clarinet solo quaver should be C5 natural not C5#

b. 84 solo clarinet first semi quaver should be G5 not F5 natural

Overall, the orchestral accompaniment is undemanding although string players need to listen carefully to the soloist in order to shape their arpeggiated and offbeat accompaniments, otherwise they can sound perfunctory. As would be expected in a work of this period, there are moments where the clarinet soloist needs space to indulge in some rubato which creates some pick-ups that need concentration.  There is a surprisingly tricky syncopated section in the upper woodwind and string section (bb. 76-79) which needed rehearsal and a bit of bravura in performance. The transition back into the recapitulation at b. 125 is slightly unusual as Smith pulls away from the climactic moment. A ‘breath’ mark in the solo clarinet after the second crotchet beat of b. 123 facilitated this.

Both performances of this piece were well received by their audiences with warm appreciation for the soloists.