In 1986 I began a for Clarinet and String Quartet, composing two movements of the projected three that year. As a clarinetist, I'd always been inspired by the Brahms and Mozart quintets, and I'd also been freshly inspired by Eddie Daniels' recent recordings of jazz clarinet with symphony orchestra. Work on the Lyric Quintet was interrupted soon after the second movement, as I became a father for the first time and then was fortunate to have several years of commissions with premiere deadlines; a...