Coming back six years later, I decided this would be better as a Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra. The larger string ensemble allowed thick jazz chords to be played more richly and smoothly, allowed contrasts between solo strings and tuttis, and added the advantages of having a conductor. Starting life as intimately blended chamber music rather than as a concerto, Movements 1 & 2 use the clarinet as a balanced ensemble member at least as much as a soloist, and there are many solo passages for strings. Only the third movement was originally conceived for full string orchestra, leading this final movement to more dramatic contrasts between clarinet and strings.

The music has a light, summery feel, and the friendly relationship of the clarinet to the strings somehow struck me as a solstice-like meeting point, therefore the poetic title Summer Solstice, with Concerto in the subtitle.