Cloud Eight
for Bb clarinet [or flute or alto sax] and guitar (1995/2000)
duration: 7’
GRT • 064 / 099 / 112


YouTube
cloud-vid

CD available
Pluckblow
Gerard McChrystal (alto saxophone), Craig Ogden (guitar)
Meridian Records

score available
clarinet and flute versions available through the Australian Music Centre
alto saxophone version available through Reed Music

program note
Cloud Eight? There is an aspect of melancholy about the whole idea. Less than one might dream of. Yet it is also an opportunity to think again. To re–evaluate what is worthwhile. In musical terms, this finally leads to a more elated reverie. Not shouting from the roof tops, but perhaps an inner elation while taking a solitary stroll far from the madding crowd.

reviews
“The penultimate piece in today’s lunchtime recital was the World Premiere performance of Cloud Eight by Australian composer Stuart Greenbaum. Gerard performed the UK premiere of another work by the same composer, Sleepless in Overnight City in Aberystwyth in 2004, who then wrote this lovely dreamy piece for alto saxophone and guitar later in the same year, which beautifully showed off Gerard’s tone.”
Lara James, Clarinet and Saxophone magazine (UK), October 2005

“Australian Stuart Greenbaum’s Cloud Eight (1995; revised 2005) is an aspirational dialogue grounded – but not defeated – by brute reality, the resulting melancholia–tinged conversation concluding with an elated reverie that redeems and rewards.”
Michael Quinn, JMI Magazine (Ireland), March 2007

“In Cloud 8 by Stuart Greenbaum, Russoniello’s singing melodies receive thoughtful responses from Tanouye – it’s a work to internalise; to sink into.”
Stephanie Eslake, Limelight, February 2018

“...the beautiful opening of Cloud Eight, a piece that had me hooked from the start.”
Kate Rockstrom, Readings Magazine, September 2022

Cloud Eight and Going Home Griffiths and Murray capture the music of a bygone time perfectly.”
Alan Holley, Classikon, September 2022

Cloud Eight is a delightful piece that showcases Greenbaum’s storytelling style. The clarinet begins with a melancholic idea that blossoms and takes on new, and sometimes surprising, twists as the melodies unfold. There are a few instances when the tone loses a bit of focus. Nevertheless, Griffiths and Murray are sensitive collaborators as they create beautiful dialogue. Especially notable is the interesting texture Greenbaum writes when the guitar plucks notes that accentuate the clarinet line.”
Justin Stanley, International Clarinet Association – The Clarinet, June 2023