Walter Ross

Old Joe Clark's Musical Offering is a parody on the famous Musical Offering by J.S. Bach. It was originally written in 1971, but didn't take this, its final form, until 1999.

The melody used for a set of canons and a 'sonata' is the American folk song 'Old Joe Clark', a tune in mixolydian mode (called 'mountain minor' in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia) with a seemingly endless number of outrageous verses.

The trio has been conceived for several combinations of the oboe family and is dedicated to Jennifer Paull. The canons are always between the two upper voices, and can be played as duets, if desired, adding the third part on a repeat of the music. This light-hearted work could be performed as a whole or sections may be chosen to make a lively encore.

Walter Ross
2000

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