It was written for British clarinet player Frederick Thurston and was the composer's last major chamber work.
[4] Both Huss and the anonymous writer of the liner notes to the Hyperion recording of the oboe sonata, point to similarities in the rhythmical procedures and musical structure between the two compositions to argue that the clarinet sonata represents the result of an attempt by the composer to simplify and clarify the structural concepts he had explored in the oboe sonata combined with a change of instrument to one he felt better suited to them.
[5][6] Aileen Razey in their thesis comments that despite advocacy from Frederick Thurston, Boosey & Hawkes did not publish the sonata, in a transcription for the B♭ clarinet, until 1956.
[7] The two movements have the main tempo indications: The music is typical of Howells's improvised sound world and is technically challenging, with sweeping arpeggiated figurations.
The piece is also available transcribed for the B♭ clarinet from Boosey and Hawkes's music archive.