Marko Ruždjak: Yours Sincerely…, for solo clarinet

Yours Sincerely…, composed for solo clarinet, fully reflects the composer’s dedication to a meticulous exploration of the expressive and technical possibilities of the clarinet within the context of both solo instrumental treatment and the phenomenon of human breath. Alluding to the end of a letter in its title, this piece presents a clarinet musical monologue, while subtly questioning the relationship between silence, sound, and colour.

Through numerous unexpected solutions and the use of extended performance techniques, Yours Sincerely…, embodies the characteristic sound world of Ruždjak’s thoughtful and refined compositional language. It relies on pronounced dynamic contrasts and the articulation of silence as an equal component of the musical material – a feature that occupies a central place throughout the composer’s oeuvre. Framed by silence at the beginning and the end of the piece, the meditative part of the composition is filled with serene melodic lines, interrupted by restless and fast passages. In a conversation with musicologist Eva Sedak, Marko Ruždjak emphasised that Yours Sincerely…, is built upon a descending five-note phrase spanning the intervallic range of an augmented fourth, which is subsequently subjected to extensive variation before ultimately returning to its original simplicity. He continued: “For me, the poetics of its music lies in its directly anthropologically conditioned expressiveness.” The piece was completed in 1980 and has been recorded on several releases, including performances by Anđelko Ramušćak and Davorin Brozić, the most recent being Marko Ruždjak: Spiritual (Cantus d.o.o., 2014).

(Bojana Plećaš-Kalebota, translated by Mia Pleša)

HDS, Cantus, 2026.
Edition numbers: Can. ‭403-3736‬
ISMN 979-0-801363-76-3