This Dance Sonata for clarinet in A (doubling bass clarinet) and piano is a version of my Dance Concerto composed in 2013.  Originally written for both soloist + eight instruments (commissioned by Frank M. Hudson and the 21st Century Consort) and soloist + wind ensemble (commissioned by a consortium of twenty-two collegiate wind ensembles), they all riff on the theme of the original version’s premiere at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., 'dancing the night away until dawn.’ The original Dance Concerto is scored for soloist and a miniature band of eight instruments without percussion.  In the version for wind ensemble, which I had in mind from the initial conception of the piece, the band is considerably enlarged to thirty-three musicians including four percussionists.  In this Dance Sonata, which I also had in mind from the beginning, the clarinetist plays the identical music as in the other versions, but the piano plays a ‘real’ part, not at all a piano reduction.  The clarinetist in Dance Sonata plays both clarinet and bass clarinet in this virtuosic, three - movement work.  All three movements are 'dance music,' as if the clarinetist were the leader of some sort of dance band duo on this or another planet, and they play fast music, slow music and music in between.  These are invented dances; the regulars at this particular late-night, cosmopolitan club are very, very good, but even newcomers can join in and dance until the sun comes up.    – Donald Crockett