Cooking with the clarinet: Stylistic mixture and culinary metaphors in Kenji Bunch's Cookbook & introductions to two of Bunch's chamber works for clarinet

Abstract

This project is a comprehensive study of Cookbook for clarinet and piano written by American composer Kenji Bunch for clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester. As a composer with a deep interest in various musical styles, Bunch integrated elements from Jazz and Spanish music in Cookbook. The purpose of this research is to examine the stylistic integration of genres and culinary metaphors and to provide performance guidelines for clarinetists performing Cookbook. Furthermore, this project will include brief discussions of two additional chamber works by Bunch: Drift...an eventual lullaby for clarinet, viola, and piano and Four Flashbacks for clarinet and viola. As one of the first studies delving into Bunch’s life and compositions,this project helps classically trained clarinetists to understand the musical styles referenced in these works and to bridge the gap between the different performance practice traditions in their own playing.