Classical Clarinet
Posted by: herm on 17 March 2002
Clarinet FavoritesDo I have a favorite instrument? Of course I don't. All instruments are created equal; it just depends what kind of music they get to play.
Still it seems the clarinet has a special place in most classical composers' hearts - perhaps because a lot of them knew their way around a violin, while the clarinet was a strange enchanting instrument for them, asking to be courted and conquered. They really went to town on these pieces...
My lists of great clarinet works is pretty simple:
Mozart: the clarinet quintet and the clarinet concerto Mozart wrote for his crazy buddy Stadler, and, perhaps, my favorite, the trio for piano, viola and clarinet, which Mozart supposedly composed while he was out bowling. The viola - clarinet combo, with their different kinds of melancholy, is just unforgettable.
Brahms: was Brahms thinking of Mozart when he wrote his clarinet quintet? I wonder. After all it was three quarters of a century later. Do I like it? Yes & no: the gypsy-like pieces are a bit hokey. I prefer the smaller works. The two sonatas for piano and clarinet are among the very best Brahms wrote. Listen to the piano. Listen to the clarinet. The beauty of these scores is just beyond comprehension. And then there's the trio for piano, cello and clarinet.
Reger wrote the next great clarinet quintet (1915). It’s the one I like best. The scherzo is unbeatable (Leister with the Vogler Quartet on Nimbus). The instrument is fully emancipated; it doesn't need to do the humpty-dumpty clarinetto rolls. Reger also wrote a great sonata for piano and clarinet.
Nielsen wrote a clarinet concerto, in which he's careful to avoid the long singing lines we're used to with this instrument.
Anyone else clarinet favorites? I'm curious.
Herman
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by herm
Hi Nick,
And I bet Thea King was playing that Finzi piece. There's a whole bunch of beautiful English clarinet pieces she recorded for Hyperion.
The Copland is pretty good.
here's one I forgot: towards the end of his life Francis Poulenc wrote two great sonatas, one for oboe and piano and one for clarinet and piano. They're both deeply melancholic, and are so with great economy of means. You just got to have them.
Herman
[Vuk, you funny man: do you ever read posts before "responding"?]
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by ken c
i love clarinet music (my daughter plays it...). i recall obtaining some recommendations from this very forum sometime ago.
- brahms clarinet quintet and trio, thea king, on hyperion (obviously with thea)
- sonata for clarinet and piano, aaron copland
- mozart clarinet concerto in A major/clarinet quintet in A major, again on hyperion, with thea king on clarinet. as juicy as mozart ever gets.
i hope to pick up a couple of other recommdendations from this thread...
enjoy
ken
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by herm
Clarinet recommendationsHi Ken,
If you and your lucky-girl daughter (did she get her CD5 yet?) want to get some more Mozart clarinet works, I’d definitely recommend the socalled Kegelstadt trio with piano and viola. One way you can get it is on a Philips Duo which also features a bunch of straight piano trios Mozart wrote.
Another Mozart must-have is the socalled Grand Partita (K. 361), which is A) a 50 minute work for 13 instruments, mostly winds and B) one of the most gorgeous things Mozart ever wrote (when he'd at last gotten married his friends came over in the a.m. stood outside and played it to the newly weds). Obviously there's a lot of creamy clarinet in it. Almost any good recording will do (Netherlands Winds Ens, or the St. Martin's).
If you like the Brahms, check out the Reger quintet. Perhaps it's one step up in complexity, but, boy, it's music to die for.
Herman
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by ken c
no she hasnt got the cd5 yet. not yet approved by senior management. working on it though.
so, thats 3 more records on my list!! this is getting frightening! i havent done a serious cd shopping spree yet, but the next one is going to be a "mother of all..."
many thanks herman...
enjoy
ken
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by stephenjohn
Hi
You Guys are making this music sound good [and I haven't heard most of it]. Please could you give me recomendations for good recordings. I'm particularly interested in the Reger, Poulenc, and Copland sonata
Thanks
Steve
Posted on: 19 March 2002 by herm
Hi Steveof course you should be interested, what with your collection of twentieth C chamber music.
The Reger is easy. It's a Nimbus recording, with Karl Leister on clarinet and the Vogler String Quartet (throwing in Reger's powerful 4th String Quartet). NI5644. Splendid playing, splendid recording on that now defunct label.
The Poulenc Sonata can be had on a Denon disc by the clarinettist Paul Meyer and the piano player Eric Le Sage. There's lots of other modern French clarinet goodies by Debussy, Milhaud and Honeger on it. CO79282. (On no account grab the easily available DG-collection with James Levine and the Ensemble Wien-Berlin: it's wrong, bad, and no good.)
Shame on me, I don't have the Copland sonata. (I do have the concerto though, also on Denon by the same Meyer and David Zinman. It's not the standard recommendation, which would be an American soloist, no doubt.)
I'm especially curious how you're going to like the Reger disc. He's one of the very best chamber music composers ever.
Herman
[This message was edited by herm on TUESDAY 19 March 2002 at 19:38.]
Posted on: 19 March 2002 by stephenjohn
Thanks Herm
I've ordered the Reger and the Poulenc from Amazon. They're estimating 2 to 3 weeks delivery.
I'll let you know
Steve
Posted on: 29 April 2002 by stephenjohn
Hi Herm
The Reger arrived on Friday. I listened to it straight away, but it didn't grab me. I was disappointed, I really wanted to like it, but it sounded too ... sweet... smooth ... [I think] to my ears, kinda reminded me of 19th century.
I'm still awaiting the Poulenc
Steve
Posted on: 01 May 2002 by herm
Hi Steve,
I'm sorry to hear you were not immediately taken by the Reger Clarinet Quintet + String Quartet. Yes, I guess it's a little closer to the 19th C than some other things, but obviously depends where you're coming from.
Perhaps it helps to mention that at those notorious private concerts of the Second Viennese School, Reger and Debussy were the most frequently performed composers (outside of Schoenberg, Berg etc).
Of course Reger's clarinet sings the way it used to do. It's especially in the strings that one can tell this is early 20th C writing. Have you tried the String Quartet?
I'm hoping you'll give both works another chance. One reason Reger has so few fans (apart from organ players
) is that he really needs some time getting used to, with his dense writing.
Herman
Posted on: 01 May 2002 by stephenjohn
...but not for now, because I can't stop playing the Debussy Cello sonata
Steve
Posted on: 07 May 2002 by John C
I have come to love jazz clarinet especially modernists like Jimmy Giuffre, Eric Dolphy (Bass clarinet), Perry Robinson and more recently Marty Ehrlich or Ben Goldberg. Their playing and sound though related to great swing or New Orleans clarinet players like Pee Wee Russell, Sidney Bechet or Barney Bigard is quite different.
So the question for all you clarinet experts, are there current classical recordings that might appeal to someone with a jazz (modern to avant garde) sensibility? Is classical playing an entirely different discipline from jazz clarinet?
Johnn
Posted on: 07 May 2002 by herm
Copland Concerto
Hi John,
I'd say Copland's Clarinet Concerto would defintely be of interest to you. Stravinksy's Ebony Cto would too, though I have to say it's not nearly as good as the Copland.
Also, I'm kind of wondering what's going on with Ken who posted on this thread on behalf of his daughter. Haven't seen him any place on this forum for a while. Maybe he's just working his r**r *nd off to amass funds for the 552?
Herman
Posted on: 07 May 2002 by --duncan--
John,
Bartok: Contrasts for Clarinet, Violin and Piano.
Written for Benny Goodman, although doesn't sound much like 'The King of Swing's usual repertoire so don't let that put you off. Recommended if you like your Jazz on the crunchy side. I have the Collins/Julliet/Argerich (EMI), which is very exciting, others here may have different suggestions.
Another possiblity is Olivier Messiaen 'Quatuor pour la fin du temps' for violin/cello/piano/clarinet. This has spiky bits you may like, but also sections of transcedental catholic mysticism. It's a bit like Albert Ayler suddenly transforming into Jan Garbarek. Somehow it all works. Not all may like the whiff of incense about it, but it is a great personal favorite and contains just about enough Clarinet to sneak onto this thread.
duncan
