Helen Grime's Clarinet Concerto was composed in 2009 on a commission from the Tanglewood Music Center.
Reviewing the world premiere, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote that Grime "seems drawn to melody and textural luxuriance, but she also has an ear for counterpoint and rhythmic complexity that gives her music an appealing edge."
"[2] George Hall of The Guardian similarly lauded "Grime's ability to allot each instrument its own individuality," remarking, "Once again, the music's ability to sustain interest was as notable as the sometimes lyrical, sometimes abrasive gestures Grime deploys as building blocks of a tight structure.
"[3] Ivan Hewett of The Daily Telegraph favorably noted stylistic echoes of the French composer Pierre Boulez, writing, "Flurries of nervously intense melody from the soloist were caught and held in a web of trilling sounds in the string quartet, with muted trombone and thrummed harp adding a touch of menace.
"[4] Likewise, Anthony Tommasini, reviewing a later concert for The New York Times, called it "a compact and engagingly mercurial work, which alternates passages of lacy, searching lyrical writing with stretches of jumpy animation.