While he was in the middle of writing a large-scale musical production, Rik Elings sought diversion in composing these pieces for clarinet quartet. During a period of merciless deadlines, working on PLAYTIME 4 CLARINETS turned out to be an excellentway of release. Out of the blue, he created three playful little works in a mostly classical early Romantic idiom, with a touch of jazz. The three short pieces are quite catchy and they guarantee some pleasant playtime for four clarinets.