The Compendium of Ingenious Mechanical Devices Bass Clarinet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1885920

The "Compendium of Ingenious Mechanical Devices" was written by Badi' al-Zaman Abu-'l-'Izz Ibn Isma'il Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari (generally known as al-Jazari), who was a renowned mechanical engineer and inventor of the medieval Islamic world. He published this richly illustrated treatise in 1206, describing various mechanical devices including clocks, containers for transporting liquids, and other pneumatic-hydraulic automata. In his foreword, the author mentions (as motivation for the publication) the desire of his sovereign to have a documentation of the many marvellous but fragile devices currently in existence so that they could be subsequently recreated and would thus survive in time, rather as musical notation preserves intangible ideas to enable future performances.

My piece consists of five musical mechanisms which are defined by distinctive motifs in the cowbell part. These mechanisms explore a range of musical states and the different relationships which can exist between clarinet and percussion. Sometimes they remain independent but elsewhere they interact and intertwine.

Compendium of Ingenious Mechanical Devices was commissioned by Late Music York for Chris Caldwell and Richard Horne, with choreography by Antonio Bukhar. It was first performed at Late Music in May 2025 with performers from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance.