Cotton Candy: Flute Clarinet Quartet, Conductor Score & Parts

Marlatt nails the encore formula here. The piece is genuinely fun to play without asking for technical heroics, and audiences light up at the first few bars. It sits perfectly at the end of a concert when you want to send people out smiling.

Sticky-sweet and playful, like wandering through a county fair with a cloud of cotton candy in hand. The harmonies have a delightful vintage quality, evoking the hand-painted carousel horses and brass band music that define small-town Americana. Bright, nostalgic, and impossibly cheerful.

Flute and clarinet players at the high school or advanced middle school level who are looking for a short, accessible piece that doesn't require advanced technique but rewards clean ensemble playing. This works well for groups preparing festival repertoire or building a concert that mixes substantial works with moments of pure entertainment.

• Keep the tempo bouncy and energetic; resist the urge to drag. The cartoon-style harmony lands best when it moves with clarity and lightness.
• Balance the flute and clarinet lines so each choir can be heard distinctly. These are melody instruments, and Marlatt writes them equally, so neither should disappear into the accompaniment.
• Use dynamics subtly to shape phrases rather than playing at one volume throughout. Small swells and pulls will add charm and prevent the quick two-minute runtime from feeling flat.

Position this as your closing piece or the final number before intermission. At two minutes, it's the perfect palate cleanser after a more serious or technically demanding work, and it leaves the audience in a warm mood. Consider pairing it with other lighter Marlatt arrangements to build a cohesive, playful set.

• Maintaining steady eighth-note rhythms at a moderate tempo
• Balancing ensemble sound across two instrument families
• Executing clean articulation in a light, staccato style
• Responding to dynamic shaping cues for musical phrase definition