Jeanjean Arabesques for Clarinet and Piano

Jeanjean's Arabesques is a short, light solo from a collection published in 1926, designed from the outset for café performance. It was originally played with a small string ensemble, and carries the elegant, balletic character the title suggests. This new edition, edited and re-engraved by Paul Wood from the original 1926 print, gives the piece a clear, spacious layout that makes it straightforward to read and to practise from.

Jeanjean (1874-1928) was himself a clarinettist and principal with both the Garde Républicaine Band and the Monte Carlo Opera, and his writing for the instrument is consistently idiomatic. Arabesques sits at advanced intermediate to early advanced level: roughly competition or examination standard. It asks for consistent tone across the full range of the clarinet, clean technical articulation, and the kind of light, stylistically assured French character that is harder to achieve than it sounds. The original edition had a cramped and inconsistent layout that made it difficult to read at tempo; this edition resolves those problems.

At five minutes, it's well proportioned for a competition piece or recital item. For a teacher, it's useful repertoire for any advanced intermediate student working on tonal consistency and French style. For a student, it develops good playing habits while remaining genuinely enjoyable to practise.

See and hear the difference

Check the score preview images above, then watch the performance video. They'll give you a clear picture of the engraving quality and the overall level of the piece before you buy.

Key features

• Instrumentation: Clarinet in B♭ and Piano
• Difficulty: advanced intermediate to early advanced; suitable for competitions and examinations
• Duration: approximately 5 minutes
• Style focus: consistent tone across the full range, French stylistic lightness, clean articulation
• Editor: Paul Wood for MyMusicScores, based on the original 1926 edition
• Format: PDF download, clarinet part and piano score

Who it's for

Suits an advanced intermediate clarinettist preparing for a competition, examination, or recital who needs a piece that develops tonal consistency and French stylistic understanding. Works well as a recital item or competition solo for any player wanting something less frequently heard than the standard repertoire.