Originally published in The Clarinet 51/1 (December 2023).
Printed copies of The Clarinet are available for ICA members.
Book and Music Reviews:
December 2023
BOOKS
Manuel Gangl. The E-flat Clarinet. Manuel Gangl Verlag, 2023. €22.00
_____. The D Clarinet and the Molter Clarinet Concerto No. 1. Manuel Gangl Verlag, 2023. €22.00
[email protected]
Manuel Gangl has a chair as E-flat and D clarinet player with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and is a virtuoso and specialist on those instruments. One can witness his abilities on piccolo clarinets by listening to his great performances on YouTube, or from his CD Sphärenklänge Barockensemble der Wiener Symphoniker: Molter Clarinet Concerto No. 3 with Christian Birnbaum, conductor. Manuel is also a smart researcher, dedicating much of his time to writing a good number of interesting articles and two books about high clarinets. The first book (182 pages) is something quite new and unique, covering a variety of topics related to the EÌ clarinet: history, intonation, sound, equipment, geometry, tonal range, repertoire list, tips, and more. In spite of his young age Gangl shows his high expertise with this delicate and not always easy to handle instrument. Many important orchestral solos are analyzed by him in detail, and black and white photos illustrate instruments from various makers, pointing out differences between Boehm and German system instruments. Many pieces, both original and arrangements, are listed for E-flat clarinet. Gangl also addresses the importance of the geometry and acoustical aspects of the instrument.
Gangl’s second book (230 smaller pages) is on the D clarinet, which is not often used in the big orchestras outside of Germany and Austria, where almost all the D clarinet parts of Strauss, Stravinsky, and other composers are played on that specific instrument. In this book, like in the first for E-flat clarinet, Gangl covers the same range of topics, and then extensively addresses the Molter Concerto No. 1 (chosen from his six concertos for D clarinet and orchestra, often required in orchestra auditions). He adds information concerning performance practice in the late Baroque and early Classical periods, listing all the possible embellishments and explaining how to perform them. Gangl provides a discography, bibliography, and a complete score of the Molter Concerto No. 1. He uses it to compare the nine different performers who have recorded this piece. Both books are treasures for student and professional specialists on the high clarinets. Highly recommended!
– Luigi Magistrelli
Milan Milosevic. Clarinet Ornamentation Techniques Influenced by the Traditional Use of an Historical Instrument – The Tárogató. University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovica Faculty of Arts, 2022. Free printed copies of this non-commercial academic edition can be obtained from the author at milanmilosevic.com.
A Canadian clarinetist of Serbian origin, Milan Milosevic is the clarinet teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada and permanent associate clarinet and basset clarinet performer of the Zagreb Quartet in Croatia. He was born in 1969 in Belgrade, Serbia, at that time in the SFR Yugoslavia. Milosevic obtained his doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia–Vancouver in 2015, with a thesis on clarinet ornamentation techniques (milanmilosevic.com/ornaments), in which he combined research in clarinet and ethnomusicology areas. The University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovica (where I teach as clarinet professor) published this material as a book and presented it at the 65th International Belgrade Book Fair on October 24, 2022. The book includes endorsements and recommendations by Robert Spring (USA), Jože Kotar (Slovenia), and Andrija Blagojević (Serbia).
This richly illustrated monograph consists of six larger units. In the first chapter, Milosevic explains the research methodology he used in 2013 in Serbia, Romania, and Hungary. In the second chapter, he introduces us to the history and development of the Hungarian-Romanian folk instrument, the tárogató. In the third chapter, Milosevic presents C.P.E. Bach’s 18th-century guides for music ornaments. Milosevic gives new modern notation and guidance for proper clarinet ornamentation and placement. In the fourth and fifth chapters, Milosevic suggests fingerings and gives practical illustrated advice on the proper fingering techniques. In the sixth chapter, the author recommends using specific ornaments in specific situations. Last is a relevant bibliography.
Milan Milosevic’s research results were also published in a condensed form in The Clarinet 44 no. 3 (June 2017) as “Clarinet Ornamentation Models Influenced by Eastern-European Traditional Music.”
– Andrija Blagojević
Sebastian Borsch. Fingering Chart and Compendium for the Contrabass Clarinet. Self-published, 2023. Available on Amazon. $22.58
The contrabass clarinet is the youngest instrument in the clarinet family, and interest in the instrument is growing steadily among both clarinetists and composers. There are three models in use today: Selmer’s large wooden instruments, Eppelsheim’s modern metal instruments, and the Leblanc Houvenaghel system metal instrument. The Leblanc model is by far the most popular, known as “the paperclip,” and it is the subject of Sebastian Borsch’s publication Fingering Chart and Compendium for the Contrabass Clarinet. Borsch has a background as both a performer and an instrument maker, and in 2009 he released the CD Keyworks with central solo pieces for the contrabass clarinet.
The compendium is presented in German, English, and French. After a short history of the Leblanc contrabass clarinet, Borsch describes its construction and mechanics, including every detail about screws, axles, pads, springs, and all parts of the instrument. His impressive knowledge as an instrument maker is evident, as is his deep respect for the designers and workers at Leblanc in the early 20th century.
Clarinetists who take up the contrabass clarinet will find the instrument unpredictable and a bit temperamental. In this aspect, the section about playing techniques is a helpful confirmation of the instrument’s possibilities and limitations. I agree with Borsch’s thoughts on the subject. He could have listed more extended techniques, and a few multiphonic fingerings could have been an interesting start for further individual research. Perhaps we can hope for a compendium Vol. 2?
Borsch’s fingering chart for the contrabass clarinet is highly welcome, and I find it especially helpful in the higher registers. Borsch includes a few quarter tones, though there are more microtonal possibilities than mentioned here. The adventurous contrabass clarinetist should explore their own instrument, and the results will probably be quite individual. I find the register from altissimo D-sharp and about a fifth upwards extremely demanding. These tones are best achieved by starting at a higher, more controllable pitch, and playing glissando, sliding down through the fingerings. I have only come across this register in Xenakis’s Jalons, and I encourage composers to avoid it. The compendium includes a comprehensive and well-informed repertoire list.
All clarinetists who play the contrabass clarinet and instrument makers who repair them will find this compendium and fingering chart highly useful.
– Rolf-Steinar Borch
Raquel Iacob. Music Theory Fundamentals Workbook for Clarinet. Self-published, 2022. $30.00
Integrating music theory concepts into musical instruction facilitates greater ease of musical learning and develops transferable knowledge that students can apply to all repertoire. Clarinetist and elementary general music teacher Raquel Iacob draws on her experience teaching clarinet and music theory to create the Music Theory Fundamentals Workbook for Clarinet.
In Section A: Melodic Elements, Iacob introduces musical notation in a logical manner beginning with the musical alphabet and progressing to enharmonic pitches, basic intervals, and transposition. She includes several activities for students such as writing in note names below the staff, notating pitches and accidentals in the staff, and playing after completing notation.
Iacob emphasizes that learning and retaining scale patterns cannot be based solely on guessing or muscle memory in Section B: Scales. Iacob presents arpeggios, scales, and thirds in each key, and in addition chromatic, whole-tone, octatonic, and pentatonic scales; augmented and diminished seventh chords; and diatonic modes. The exercises for each major or minor scale are very thorough, but some may have concerns about occasional instances of incorrect verbiage (i.e. describing natural, harmonic, and melodic as “types of minor keys” instead of scales) or explanations of concepts that promote procedural knowledge at the expense of declarative knowledge (i.e. play the descending portion of the melodic minor scale as the major scale of the lowered mediant).
In Section C: Rhythmic Elements, Iacob explores rhythm, time signatures, divisions of the beat, and rhythm syllables in the Takadimi system. Students and teachers will need to have some familiarity with the Takadimi rhythm counting system to utilize this section of the book to the fullest. The appendices include a fingering chart, information about choosing specific clarinet fingerings, the author’s warm-up routine, timelines of Western classical music and the clarinet’s history, indexes of topics and musical examples, and a bibliography.
Iacob cultivates a more engaging experience for students by connecting theoretical concepts to the clarinet through excerpts from the clarinet repertoire. The text is easy to read, with colorful graphics drawing students to important reminders. Given her strong preference for Takadimi rhythm syllables, Iacob surprisingly does not provide any instruction on solfege syllables in any system and does not include audiation as an intermediary step between speaking note names and playing, something many feel is a requisite skill for basic musicianship. However, this is a solid resource for teachers looking to incorporate more music theory instruction into the applied studio at all levels.
– David Cook
Hans-Peter Huber. “Ach, wenn wir nur auch Clarinetti hätten!” TRIO Musik Edition, 2022. €49.00
This is a very special, beautiful, and unique book conceived and realized after many years of research by Hans-Peter Huber, a German clarinet player, pedagogue, and scholar. The 600 pages’ many chapters embrace all aspects of the works with clarinet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart including facts, sources, opinions, and much else!
The Mozart quotation that gives the book its title is quite well-known and refers to a letter to his father dated December 3, 1778. W.A. Mozart writes, “Oh, if we would have also clarinets!” Our genius, Mozart, had been struck listening to the clarinet and its special sound during a performance of the famous Mannheim orchestra. Hans-Peter Huber describes the appearance of the clarinet in Mozart’s works, listing very carefully all pieces in chronological order where, from the age of 15, he wrote for it. Also cited are the fragmentary compositions in which clarinets or basset horns are used. Detailed analyses including the sources, illustrated with numerous musical examples and tables, provide a deep insight into the structure of the work and the question of what special role the composer assigns to the instrument. Huber underlines in his book the importance of Anton Stadler, dedicatee of the Clarinet Concerto, KV 622, and other important works. Huber emphasizes writing from the point of view of the clarinetist and focuses on musical practice without leaving musicological questions unanswered. Also, he addresses the possible reconstruction of the original text of the two most important works—the Clarinet Quintet, KV 581, and the Clarinet Concerto—for Stadler’s basset clarinet, the autographs of which have unfortunately been lost. This wonderful book is only available in German, but we all hope it will be translated soon into English. Highly recommended!
– Luigi Magistrelli
Mariano Lucci. Il Clarinetto Basso nell’orchestra (The Bass Clarinet in the Orchestra) Edizioni Eufonia, 2017. €20.00
Mariano Lucci is the bass clarinetist of San Carlo Theatre of Naples. In the preface of his book he highlights the importance of the bass clarinet in symphonic and opera repertoire. Lucci has compiled 13 significant bass clarinet solos from different composers, including Berg, Catalani, Verdi, Mahler, and Wagner, and has provided piano accompaniment so that both professional players and students can have a clear idea of what is going on around the soloistic part. This is something very important and is not present in other books with bass clarinet orchestral excerpts. We must be grateful to Lucci for creating this important contribution that leads to a deeper knowledge of this fascinating instrument with its warm, deep, and rich sound. The bass clarinet appeared for the first time in the orchestral field in 1835 thanks to Saverio Mercadante who wrote a demanding part in his opera Emma d’Antiochia. Considering Italian operatic repertoire in general, we must remark how Giuseppe Verdi had a high respect for the bass clarinet, writing a big solo part in his opera Aida, but also solos in other works such as Ernani and La Forza del Destino. This is one more beautiful publication by Eufonia, highly recommended!
– Luigi Magistrelli
MUSIC
Jan W. Dash. Sonatina for solo clarinet. Self-published, 1972. Free. scribd.com
We all enjoy the clarinet in different ways, and Jan W. Dash, as a teenager, was guided by his teacher Mitchell Lurie to pursue his science interests and let clarinet activities accompany his other work. Dash (b. 1942) has been a physics professor and now continues his scientific pursuits working on climate change. He recently came across his solo clarinet Sonatina from 50 years ago and has made it available gratis through Scribd. This polished two-movement work is in a chromatic and harmonically interesting style similar to Rudolf Jettel’s. Well-shaped themes, encompassing a variety of articulations and dramatic feelings, are the basis of the concise three-page, march tempo first movement. Of medium difficulty and using the clarinet range up to altissimo G, this movement is a good exercise in articulation and contrasting dynamics on or off the recital stage.
The second movement, Andante con moto, contrasts with the first with its waltz-like orientation. A flowing melodic idea emanates from the chalumeau register and is developed with subtle, progressive variation through accelerating tempos. Return back to the tempo and feel of the opening happens quickly, and the movement—and the entire Sonatina—comes to a pleasing and implied major key ending. Recommended.
– Gregory Barrett
Sam Sadigursky. 36 Clarinet Duets, Books 1 and 2. Words Project Music, 2023. samsadigursky.com Print music: $25.00 each book or $40.00 for both. Digital album, streaming and download $15.00
A versatile composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, and member of the Philip Glass Ensemble, Sam Sadigursky knows his way around the clarinet. With his projects encompassing poetry, video, and life experience—both contemporary and historic—his 36 Clarinet Duets will catch your heart while they nimble your fingers. Mostly two pages in length, these medium difficulty duets are like small tapas plates, haiku, or the starry Milky Way. Sadigursky writes in a variety of styles, though most are economical in triadic minimalist fashion. The staggered overlapping of different consonant arpeggios results in unexpected and expressive dissonances. Most of the duets are in moderate to quick tempos but there are several slow, poignant essays too. The music is predominantly in the middle range of the clarinet, allowing challenging rhythmic structures such as 5/16, or three against four, to occasionally be the focus. The great variety in these 36 duets draws you from one to the next, and working on one with a teacher would be the highlight of any clarinet lesson. Get the sheet music and listen to the engaging recording of these appealing duets: “Bloom,” “Sadness,” “Cycles,” “Study in Five,” “Movie Music,” “Clowns,” “Nova,” “Mirrors,” “Bounce,” Supreme,” and so many more.
– Gregory Barrett
Adam B. Levowitz. Hoe Down for clarinet and violin. 2008. $10.00
_____. Variations on a Yiddish Song for clarinet and violin. 2008. $10.00
_____. Fuego y Hielo for clarinet and violin. 2008. $10.00
_____. Klezmer Fantasy for clarinet and piano. 2007. Woodwindiana and other online sheet music providers. $17.95
American composer Adam B. Levowitz (b. 1968) is a multifaceted musician: composer, producer, music director, arranger, pianist, trumpeter, and writer; and he served in the 257th United States Army Band. His works and productions have been performed worldwide. He also undertakes outside-of-the-box projects such as adapting classical scores for rock ensembles, produces Broadway revivals, and founded his own rock orchestra. Levowitz earned his music composition degrees at the University of North Texas and University of Louisville, where he studied with Marc Satterwhite, Steve Rouse, and Frederick Speck.
Most interesting to me, Levowitz has written wonderful klezmer music, as well as short but powerful and delectable world music duos for clarinet and violin (Jewish, Spanish, American fiddle, and Greek styles). I love performing Adam’s music; it is filled with joy and accessible melodies, and his scores are very well written for clarinet (and violin, and piano).
Reviewed here are three of his four duos for clarinet and violin as well as a solid crowd-pleaser klezmer piece for clarinet and piano (also available with string orchestra and symphonic band accompaniments).
Hoe Down for clarinet and violin (2008) is a wonderful, virtuosic, and fun American fiddler-style duo, with both parts shining throughout, with room for ornamentation—two minutes of exquisite fiddle fun and virtuosic clarinet writing.
Variations on a Yiddish Song for clarinet and violin (2008) is a powerful Jewish-style duo and can be made more complex by adding klezmer effects and ornaments. The work pays tribute to the legacy of the composer’s Jewish heritage and maternal great-grandfather Samuel Gozinsky, who was a cantor and composer of Jewish liturgical music in the early 20th century. The central theme, “Yitzchak Moshe,” penned by Gozinsky, forms the heart of this work, and continues to be sung in synagogues, carrying forward its timeless essence.
Fuego y Hielo for clarinet and violin (2008) is a well-titled “fire and ice,” inspired by Spanish rhythms in harmonic minor mode. The piece portrays the contrasting elements of fire and ice through an exciting tapestry of tempo, dynamics, and melodic material, creating a rich sound.
Klezmer Fantasy for clarinet and piano (2007) is a traditional klezmer single-movement work starting with a prayer-like written improvisation (doina), segueing into various dance tunes including a hora, culminating into a fiery, happy (freilach) finale. The score includes a detailed performance guide by me.
Adam Levowitz also wrote a wonderful three-movement Greek style duo. All duos are published by the composer himself and can be obtained directly from him in PDF format via email: [email protected]. Recordings of the works can be found on YouTube; learn more at adamlevowitz.com.
Highly recommended all around.
– Michele Gingras
Stephen Binnington. Prelude, Aria and Finale for B-flat clarinet and piano. Forton Music, 2022. £9.00, digital. £12.00, print.
English organist, choral director, piano accompanist, and composer Stephen Binnington has lovingly crafted for his grandniece a beautiful 10-minute, medium difficulty, three-movement work. The harmonies are rich and ever-changing, and the clarinet writing has a joyful integration of melody and fluid, fun-for-the-fingers passagework as in the Saint-Saëns Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.
The moderately fast “Prelude” is about half of the work and contains rhythmic and expressive ideas couched in a timeless-sounding harmony with perfect fifth underpinnings that support extensive detail of less medieval-sounding intervals. Midway through is a brief interlude with the suspended clarinet line enhanced by at first rolled and then repeated chords. The central “Aria” begins and ends with 10 measures of solo clarinet. The body of the movement finds the piano accompaniment “murmuring” under the clarinet with two stacked perfect fifths forming various seventh chords when grouped together. The “Finale” is a lively, brief summation highlighted by mixed meter groupings at the eighth-note level. In a contrasting fashion, legato 6/8 passages with dotted quarters in the clarinet and gentle eighths in the piano recall the melodic orientation of the first two movements. The top clarinet note in the entire piece is altissimo G. This is a great work for the player with at least three years’ experience.
– Gregory Barrett
Jean-Xavier Lefèvre. Méthode de clarinette, sonatas for clarinet and piano. Edited by Nicholas Cox. Edition HH, 2022-2023. Volume 1: Sonatas 1-5, £24.00. Volume 2: Sonatas 6-8, £22.50. Volume 3: Sonatas 9-10, £24.00. Volume 4: Sonatas 11-12, £30.00.
Jean-Xavier Lefèvre (1763-1829) was a very influential French clarinet player, composer, and teacher of the late classical period. The majority of clarinetists know him for his Méthode written in 1802 and for being one of the most important representatives of the French clarinet school. Also, he is well known for adding the sixth key (C-sharp/G-sharp) to the clarinet used at those times. He was Swiss, but moved at an early age to Paris where he remained until his death. He had the opportunity to study under a very important French clarinetist of those times, Michèl Yost (1754-1786), who wrote many clarinet compositions including 14 concertos. Lefèvre, considered the successor of Yost, also had students of high quality such as Crusell, and Adolphe and Pierre Hugot. He was appointed to the French Garde Républicaine band in 1778 and then after the revolution, to the National Guard band, being named its deputy conductor in 1790. From 1791 to 1817 he was principal clarinet at the Opéra in Paris. He was one of the most respected clarinet professors of the Paris Conservatoire, founded in 1795, that had 19 clarinet teachers for 104 students! This proves the enormous popularity of the clarinet at those times in France, necessary to fill the Regimental Bands during the Napoleonic era.
Lefèvre’s Méthode is of great importance when approaching the Classical-era clarinet to understand all the period’s principles and technical aspects. The initial 14 chapters (Lefèvre defined those as articles) of this Méthode, unfortunately not included in modern publications, are so precious to fully understand the organological characteristics of the classical clarinet. To cite only a few examples: he explains how to articulate, how to make the right interpretation of slow and fast parts, how to use embellishments, how to take a breath, and much more!
The 12 sonatas included in this Méthode (sometimes given in modern editions, such as Ricordi, as clarinet duets) are very instructive from a pedagogical point of view. They have nice melodic themes and are well written for the clarinet, and were originally conceived by Lefèvre for “C” clarinet (more often used in France than in other European countries) and bass (cello/bassoon or keyboard accompaniment to be realized). Lefèvre also pointed out that the BÌ clarinet could be used but the bass line should be transposed one step down. This is something which has been done by Nicholas Cox, who edited for the first time all the 12 sonatas. They have been published in four volumes, providing a good piano accompaniment with the help of Michael Talbot. Cox is a well respected English clarinetist, very active in the orchestral, solo, and pedagogical fields. His publication of these sonatas is well done and useful to all students and professional players who like to play classical repertoire, and adds to the available works such as the sonatas of Sciroli, Wanhal, Hoffmeister, and Devienne.
Cox’s job was to faithfully reproduce what Lefèvre wrote, leaving to the performer the liberty to add ornamentations and articulations, according to an ideal historically informed taste belonging to the classical period. Cox has added his editorial signs in brackets, making clear that they are not from the original Lefèvre version. Included in these beautiful Edition HH publications is an informative preface, and exhaustive performance and editorial notes to inform the player of all stylistic considerations. This is a most welcome publication! Bravo editor Cox!
– Luigi Magistrelli
Johannes Brahms. Cello Sonata, op. 38. Transcription for clarinet and piano by Frédéric Matagne. HDSB Music Publishing, 2023. Digital downloads: €14.90 A clarinet part; €12.90 piano score.
Here is an interesting clarinet transcription by Frédéric Matagne. It follows the Telemann and Bach works already reviewed in The Clarinet. Matagne writes in the preface:
As an admirer of J.S. Bach, the Cello Sonata, op. 38 was a natural choice for me, as it is a “tribute to J.S. Bach”: the principal theme of the first movement and of the fugue are based on Contrapunctus 4 and 13 of The Art of Fugue. It was dedicated to Josef Gänsbacher, a professor of voice and an amateur cellist. In this work, Brahms made the piano a leading partner rather than a pure accompanist. Composed between 1862 and 1865, Brahms performed it for the first time in Mannheim in July 1865. In an attempt to make this work affordable, the piano score is available separately, so that clarinetists can play it with pianists who have the original score (cello version).
The A clarinet was chosen for this transcription for its warm timbre. A basset horn version is also available by Matagne, but the A clarinet sits better in the fingers. In addition to the well celebrated Brahms clarinet masterpieces, this first of the two Brahms Cello Sonatas can be added to our available chamber music repertoire of this great composer. Thank you, Mr. Matagne, for your fine job.
– Luigi Magistrelli
James Marshall. Sonata Semplice for clarinet and piano. James Marshall Music, 2022. $19.95
“Music has filled my life with joy. It is good for the heart, mind and soul,” said James Marshall, an American composer, educator, and former clarinetist with the United States Air Force Band, who was born in 1949 into a musical family in Dallas, Texas.
Marshall is the author of Tone and Technique Studies for the Novice Clarinetist and numerous compositions, etudes, and collections of solos for clarinet, bass clarinet, and other instruments. His newest composition, Sonata Semplice (Simple Sonata), composed for Alison Eales and Anna Le Hair, was premiered on September 3, 2022, in Tring, England. The Sonata consists of three movements. The first movement, Allegretto (with several changes of tempo during the movement) is more lyrical than virtuosic. The second movement is marked Lento e cantabile, leggiero semplice and references the English folksong “The Fair Flower of Northumberland.” The third, Allegro moderato, is lively and dancelike. There are numerous changes of meter in all three movements. The overall impression is that this is an enjoyable, melodious composition with moderate technical requirements, with clarinet range up to high G. It would be a nice addition to the recital repertoire of students and professional clarinetists. It is available through JW Pepper. And for a list of all James Marshall’s clarinet music, please visit www.jamesmarshallmusic.org.
– Andrija Blagojević
Geoffrey Peterson. Suite from Vinegar Tom for clarinet in B-flat and piano. Geoffrey Peterson Music, 2012. $12.99
Geoffrey Peterson was raised and educated in northeast Ohio and attended both the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Donald Erb and received his Bachelor of Music degree in composition. His music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
The Suite from Vinegar Tom was inspired by the British dramatist Caryl Churchill’s 1976 play Vinegar Tom, in which Churchill portrayed the oppression and humiliation of a group of women accused of witchcraft in 17th-century England. At about 19 minutes long, the Suite consists of nine relatively short, lyrical movements for clarinet and piano. The mysterious, ad libitum introduction is followed by the whimsical “Nobody Sings,” lilting “Interlude” (Waltz), tender “Something to Burn,” nostalgic “If Everybody Worked As Hard As Me,” singable “If You Float” (a rubato movement for unaccompanied clarinet!), mournful “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee,” sarcastic “Interlude” (Polka), and “Evil Women” (Grand Chorus), which ends the Suite with profound feeling.
The technical requirements for the performers of this Suite are not significant; most of the movements can be easily performed by students. However, it is better for it to be performed by musicians who are able to understand the historical context of the events that inspired the creation of Churchill’s dramatic play and this composition.
The extraordinary live recording of this Suite by Robert Woolfrey—clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra, with pianist Eric Charnofsky—fully evokes the atmosphere of Churchill’s play. It is available on Geoffrey Peterson’s YouTube channel.
– Andrija Blagojević
Edward Swan Hennessy. Celtic Trio arranged for three clarinets by Robert Rainford. Forton Music, 2021. Score and set of parts: £9.00, digital. £12.00, print.
Have you had the experience of being introduced to a local phenomenon by someone from far away? That is what happened to me through this English edition of music by American Edward Swan Hennessy (1866-1929), who was born in Rockford, Illinois, not far from my home in northern Illinois. He came from a prominent family, but as a youth left the US for study in Germany and then lived in several additional Western European countries. It seems that his reputation as a composer really took off once he embraced folk music of Celtic regions and incorporated that style into his works.
The appealing Celtic Trio was originally a string trio and has been idiomatically arranged, at a level of medium difficulty, by Forton Music powerhouse Robert Rainford. The first clarinet part only reaches altissimo D and the third part could be played an octave lower on bass clarinet. Cast in four movements, two each of “In the Irish Style” and “In the Breton Style,” the parts are mostly equal, with engaging, supporting counter lines to the melody. Major and minor modes alternate, and the simple rhythmic settings are enlivened by the last movement’s 5/4 meter. The total duration is just over eight minutes. As a companion piece, you may want to search out Hennessy’s 1921 Trio, op. 54, for two clarinets and bassoon.
– Gregory Barrett
Ferruccio Busoni. Suite for clarinet and string quartet in G minor. Breitkopf & Härtel, 1995. €32.90
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher, is probably on your musical radar, but maybe only faintly. For clarinetists, his best-known works are his Concertino (1918) for clarinet with small orchestra, and his 1878 Suite for clarinet and piano—you do the math regarding his age at the time of composition! In his youth he wrote additional clarinet works for his clarinetist father, Ferdinando. Ferruccio’s compositions were also motivated by his need to be the family breadwinner; he claimed, “I never had a childhood.” For Ferdinando’s 1881 concert tour of the Styrian spas near Graz, Austria, Busoni completed the three movement Suite in G minor for clarinet and string quartet. Editor and Busoni expert Jutta Theurich hypothesizes that a fourth movement was planned so that the Suite would not end with the slow Moderato. Dieter Klöcker’s excellent 1997 recording offers an elegant solution: reverse the order of the second and third movements to end with the Vivace e marcato.
In the first movement, Andantino–Vivace asssai, Austrian folk music is referenced. A lilting 3/4 alternates with a cleverly syncopated 3/8 in the Vivace assai sections. The music is polished, completely mature, idiomatic for the ensemble, and is alternately expressive and exciting. In the Vivace e marcato second movement, dynamic contrasts are highlighted again in a 3/8 meter with displaced accents—perhaps the biggest challenge for ensembles. Rounding out this 17-minute Suite, the Moderato has generally simpler textures than the preceding movements and the clarinet has the melodic lead more of the time.
For professionals, performing the Suite in G minor is an exciting and rewarding chamber music experience. Its manageable length, moderately advanced level of difficulty, and use of the B-flat clarinet also signal its use for student ensembles.
– Gregory Barrett
