Canon for 4

"Canon for 4 - Homage to William was written for the occasion of Sir William Glock’s retirement from the Bath Festival which rose to such eminence under his leadership.

Following the pattern of many older pieces written by composers to celebrate their musical colleagues by making a demonstration of compositional skill, this four-part canon is quite strictly carried out from beginning to end. The flute imitates the cello in inversion, the bass clarinet imitates it in retrograde, and the violin in retrograde inversion. In using this very restricting technique, I have tried to write music that would be interesting and communicative to a listener not preoccupied with its formal devices.

The London Sinfonietta gave the first performance at a celebration for Sir William on June 3, 1984 during the annual Bath festival in England." - Elliott Carter