Philip Lane

Divertissement

Divertissement for clarinet was commisssioned by Verity Butler in 1994, and first performed by her that year in Cheltenham Town Hall. The work holds a similar place in the composer's oeuvre as Elgar's 'The Music Makers' and Shostakovich's 8th StringQuartet in that there are literal quotations from earlier works, and in the last movement, a reworking of material heard in the first.
A recording of this work in a version with orchestral accompaniment 'Divertissement for Solo Clarinet, Harp %26 Str ings' is available on Marco Polo CD 8.225185
performed by Verity Butler and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Gavin Sutherland. The music of the orchestral version is available in the
Goodmusic Orchestral Series - GMCO059