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Allegroamabile, have fun with this one
I have a friend who is a good musician and decided to take up the clarinet recently...does anyone know of anything that is reasonably musical and still easy? The only piece I've been able to find is Debussy's "Petite Piece"

Some suggestions:

• Felix Mendelssohn, 2nd movement of the Clarinet Sonata in E flat major (clarinet and piano, very easy but rewarding for the clarinet, bit harder for the piano)
• W.A. Mozart, "12 Kegelduette" KV 487 (two clarinets, classical beginners' pieces)
• W.A. Mozart, Adagio F major, K580a (clarinet and piano, very lyrical piece)
• Paul Hindemith, Ludus minor (clarinet and cello)
• Max Reger, Romance in G major (clarinet and piano, but works as well for clarinet solo)

Thanks, these are great!

I would love to help. Here are some suggestions.

Gerald Finzi- Five Bagatelles: II. Romance and III. Carol
This is very playable and extremely lyrical and pleasant to listen to. As he improves on the instrument, it won't be long for him to try the other movements.

Paul Hindemith- Clarinet Sonata: I. Massig bewegt and III. Sehr langsam
This could be a stretch since there are some rythemic challenges in these movements, but since he is an experienced musician, it should not be much of an issue.

Camille Saint-Saens: Clarinet Sonata: III. Lento

Carl Nielsen- Romance for Clarinet and Piano
There is one cadenza passage that involves a chromatic scale, but it should not be too bad.

Cyrille Rose- 32 Etudes
There many slow, lyrical etudes there are not only nice to play, but they can help one's concept of tone quality grow.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- Clarinet Concerto: II. Adagio

Carl Maria von Weber: Grand Duo Concertant: II. Andante con moto

Another one he could try is the beautiful, long orchestral excerpt from the third movement of Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2

allegroamabile wrote:
Cyrille Rose- 32 Etudes
There many slow, lyrical etudes there are not only nice to play, but they can help one's concept of tone quality grow.

Ugh no. Not only are most of the slower ones far from "very easy", they just are very unmusical. They are just very weird, just not in the way 'modern' music is or anything. but they just have a very 'off' feeling.

Melodia wrote:

allegroamabile wrote:
Cyrille Rose- 32 Etudes
There many slow, lyrical etudes there are not only nice to play, but they can help one's concept of tone quality grow.

Ugh no. Not only are most of the slower ones far from "very easy", they just are very unmusical. They are just very weird, just not in the way 'modern' music is or anything. but they just have a very 'off' feeling.

I could not agree more with you, I was forced to play those by my teacher. I must suggest them since they are part of the major repertoire.

Also try Gade's Fantasiestucke for clarinet and piano, op.43 -- similar in flavour to Schumann's Fantasiestucke but a bit easier.

Re: Rose -- it's straight out 19th century harmony and phrasing, very tonal, so I'm not sure what is weird about them! (Although I realize students generally don't like studies generally.)

Re: Saint-Saens, beautiful piece, easy in rhythm and fingerings, but especially the soft section requires a lot of tonal control, so until the embouchure muscles are really good, the soft high parts won't be soft enough, and can easily get very strident . . . .