Solo de concours (1899)

Allegro non troppo - Andante - Allegro non troppo

Written eleven years before Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie, Messager’s piece for the clarinet class at the Conservatoire is probably not quite as difficult but no less brilliant in effect. The major difference between the two is that, whereas Debussy made the cadenza an integral part of the piece, Messager entrusted the soloist with the responsibility of inventing his own. In the Solo de concours it comes between the melodious, slightly Borodinesque Andante and the closing Allegro non troppo, which takes up the theme of the opening Allegro non troppo and develops it in a different way before it is swept aside in a breathtaking Allegro vivo ending.