Six clarinet sonatas by women composers from the United States: a recording project

There are over a hundred sonatas for clarinet and piano within the clarinet repertoire, but only around a dozen of these have become part of the standard pedagogical and performance canons. While the quality of many of these works merits their place in the canon, the fact that they were almost all composed by cis-gendered men from Central European countries has meant that they have unintentionally overshadowed works written by people of diverse genders, classes, and nationalities. And although there are numerous sonatas composed by people from more diverse backgrounds, it is often difficult to find quality recordings of these works; some pieces have never been recorded.

Seeking to bring awareness to these sonatas, the goal of this project is to record and present lesser known but high-quality clarinet sonatas written by American women. By making these works accessible, this project aims to offer clarinetists an entry point into lesser-known repertoire that may embody the ideals and values they want to share with their audiences.

This project features recordings of six sonatas by American women composers—Carolyn Bremer, Valerie Coleman, Amanda Harberg, Theresa Martin, Zenobia Powell Perry, and Marga Richter—all of which have very few or no commercial or professional recordings available. Through research and analysis, this paper and these recordings aim to provide each piece’s context, present them as performance options to other clarinetists, and advocate for their integration into the performance and teaching repertoire.