Lydia Lee Music

Multiphonics, pitch bending, vibrato, quarter-tones: Eric Mandat’s “Tricolor Capers” is a masterful amalgam of extended technique for the clarinet. This is the first movement of the piece (entitled “Portent”) from my junior recital last October. Listen for the multiphonics (multiple pitches sounding at once) throughout this piece! I had to learn entirely new fingerings for most of them — and at the very beginning of the piece, I even partially cover the bell of my clarinet using my leg to help the multiphonics sound. “Portent” was VERY fun to play, and it allowed me to explore new extended techniques and the extremes of the clarinet’s dynamic range. I hope you enjoy listening!

The Cole Clark & Lydia Lee jazz duo made their premiere performance this past Friday at Mainframe Studios in Des Moines! It was a blast getting to play at this gorgeous art center with one of my best friends. Here is a clip of “All of Me” from our performance! 🎶

I love getting to make music with other talented musicians, which is why I've loved being part of a clarinet trio this semester! Here's the entirety of our performance last month in a general recital for the music department. We are performing an arrangement of arias from Mozart's opera La Clemenza di Tito!

I’m back with some more piano videos for your feed! This recording is from my end-of-semester piano studio recital back in May, and I’m performing a Haydn sonata. As many of you know, I grew up on a farm, so I connect with this sonata in a unique way. From the pastoral “Allegretto e innocente” introduction to the invigorating “Presto” conclusion, this music calls to mind images of rolling, green field and a serene farm on a spring day.

And finally, here is the third movement of Theresa Martin’s Faerie Suite to round out my Spring 2021 jury piece on the clarinet! Movement III depicts Lorelei, a beautiful Siren who sings from ocean cliffs, luring enchanted sailors toward her, where they meet their demise on the sharp rocks beneath. This movement features fast-moving sixteenth-note lines that contrast with the high, soft singing of the Siren, the lines slowly converging into a screeching climax and then fading away into silence.

As promised, here is Movement II of Theresa Martin’s Faerie Suite (and my personal favorite movement of this piece)! I love the story portrayed by the music, and the fun extended techniques this movement calls for.

Movement II tells the tale of Eurydice, a nymph from Greek mythology, and her fatal love story with Orpheus, son of the god Apollo. Orpheus falls deeply in love with the beautiful Eurydice, and the pair are married. This is portrayed in the music through playful, buoyant motives that alternate with singing exclamations of love by Orpheus. Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies, and the music mirrors this through anguished flutter-tonguing and shrieking high notes. Orpheus descends to Hades to reclaim his lost love, convincing Hades to allow Eurydice to return with him by performing a heartbreaking song of grief on his lyre. Hades permits it, on one condition: Orpheus may not look at Eurydice while she follows him back to the light, or she will be lost forever. Orpheus makes the fatal mistake of looking back at Eurydice, and the movement ends with his languid, dying cries of grief.

I know I haven’t posted for a couple of months, but stayed tuned for plenty of videos headed your way soon! First up: Theresa Martin’s Faerie Suite, a modern, unaccompanied piece for clarinet I’ve been working on all semester. I will be posting this piece in three separate videos, one movement at a time!

Movement I introduces Titania, the queen of the fairies from Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania is a friendly yet powerful fairy, radiating a golden aura and fluttering on shimmering wings. Martin depicts Titania’s gracious and independent nature through sweeping musical lines that effortlessly move between the extremes of the clarinet’s range and crisp staccatos that call to mind images of a dancing fairy. More to come soon!

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Check out my other post first for more info!

The second piece is a short excerpt from Haydn’s Piano Sonata in G Major. I’m working to bring out both the light/pastoral and the intense parts of the piece. I’ve had a great first two weeks back, and I am so excited to dig into my music more this semester!

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Two weeks down in my second semester at Iowa State! So far, I’ve been busy in the practice room and in the classroom, but I am loving every single minute of it. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve been working on my first couple of weeks back! The first piece is Movement I (“Eurydice”) of Theresa Martin’s Faerie Suite. It involves a lot of extended technique and musical contrast, which is super fun. Check out my second post for more!

Merry Christmas Eve!🎄❄️❤️
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🎶: “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

Welcome to my music page! I've been sharing videos of my music over an Instagram for a year and a half, and I'm excited to begin sharing my music on Facebook now. For my first post, I want to share a piece that I've been working on all semester, Chopin's Waltz in Ab Major Op. 42. In addition to being a clarinet major at Iowa State, I have the wonderful opportunity to be a member of the piano studio under Dr. Mei-Hsuan Huang. I loved getting to learn and perform this Waltz because it allowed me to develop as a pianist both technically and expressively. My favorite part about this piece is its dance-like and energetic nature, and I hope you enjoy it too!