The Clarinet in Concert - CDD2. Hyperion Records. The clarinet was born just too late to inherit the wealth of baroque repertoire enjoyed by its elder siblings in the woodwind family. Invented in the early 1. Mozart’s imaginative insight, that its full potential came to be realized. Enthusiasts can always be found for the music of lesser- known composers, but their advocacy tends to be ignored, or dismissed as mere eccentricity, by a music- loving public hungry predominantly for acknowledged masterpieces. There is, however, much to be lost in taking the cable car directly to the highest summits without ever experiencing the attractions and rewards of the path ascending through the lower slopes. Forgotten composers may often be lesser composers but not necessarily negligible ones. Unterhalb der Burg Saaleck befindet sich, nur wenige hundert Meter entfernt, das Anwesen von Paul Schultze-Naumburg. Third Reich militaria offered by longtime collector specializing in Afrika Korps tropical headgear, Panzer, Waffen SS, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Heer headgear, awards. Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the. There is much unknown music written bearing more than a spark of originality and waiting to be brought to life in performance. Max Bruch (1. 83. Cologne and studied composition with Hiller and Reinecke, later becoming conductor of the orchestra in Berlin in addition to that of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society (1. He then became director of the Breslau Orchestral Society before being appointed Professor of Composition at the Berlin Hochschule in 1. His output covered operas, three symphonies, three violin concertos (the first, in G minor, is his best known composition) and other works for this instrument plus a wide range of choral music. The Concerto for clarinet, viola and orchestra, Op 8. The New Grove and considerable mystery surrounds its composition. It is important to point out that it should not be confused with the Double Piano Concerto, Op 8. The work for clarinet and viola was written in 1. Wilhelmshaven in Northern Germany in 1. It was first published by Eichmann the following year. Bruch writes the opening movement, Andante con moto, in common time, setting the mood in a warm, lyrical late- Romantic manner. The solo viola opens boldly at the start immediately followed by the clarinet giving an autumnal melancholic glow to the solo instruments which later weave their ways both independently and corporately in turn. The accompaniment is deftly made so that the quieter tones of the viola are not obscured in any way. At bar 5. 8 there is a change of key at which point the cellos play pizzicato. Then at bar 9. 0 the clarinet part moves into semiquavers only to be followed by the solo viola, but by bar 1. The second movement, an Allegro moderato in 3/4 time, is again lyrical in style, the solo instruments almost singing a long duet together with the orchestra acting as the accompanying ensemble. For example, at bar 7. The finale, an Allegro molto in 2/4, opens with a fanfare from trumpets and timpani but soon employs the full orchestra in a lengthy tutti. The clarinet first enters at bar 4. This swift but charming finale completes a work through which pervades a warm nostalgic glow of the late nineteenth century. Felix Mendelssohn (1. He had been a child prodigy as a pianist from the age of nine, wrote the magical overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream at seventeen, reintroduced Bach’s St Matthew Passion in 1. English performance of Beethoven’s . In addition he also composed a vast amount of music in virtually every field. In July 1. 83. 2 Mendelssohn returned to Berlin from London where in the winter months he was in the full swing of things, not only composing but also performing. In concerts during November 1. January 1. 83. 3 he gave his Walpurgisnacht, his . Furthermore, he was composing his . He gave them Op 1. Op 1. 14 was despatched to K. Two autograph versions of Op 1. Library of Congress, Washington DC), the other with orchestra (in the Biblioth. The first, dated 3. December 1. 83. 2, is a working draft containing many deletions, and it is known to have been played on 1 January 1. The orchestral version, dated 6 January, is also a working draft basically similar in content but with some differences in the cadenzas to the solo parts. It is suggested that as the orchestral score was numbered, publication was possibly envisaged, but as far as is known this never actually occurred. This version of the score is in the composer’s own hand. A larger mystery surrounds the orchestral version of Op 1. There is no known version by Mendelssohn and the orchestral score was possibly made by Carl Baermann—a copy of this exists in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. The scoring of Op 1. Op 1. 14 being similar except for the omission of trumpets and timpani. The Concertst. Mendelssohn could well have heard the tune while on one of his visits to Britain. However, he later deleted the name in favour of . The piece opens with an orchestral fanfare, Allegro di molto, followed immediately by the clarinet playing an initial flourish, only for the basset horn to do much the same. At bar 5. 4 the tempo changes to an Andante in 9/8 with the soloists in duet, accompanied by the strings in a rippling quaver rhythm. The opening tempo returns at bar 1. Opus 1. 14 has an exuberant light- hearted opening full of carefree banter, again technically most demanding in matter of ensemble. This is followed by a quieter and more sombre mood with horns and strings which leads to the basset horn in arpeggio writing contrasting with the flowing clarinet melody, the instruments moving together as a pair or in imitation of one another. The finale is a gay canter, full of obvious enjoyment in which the technical resources of the solo instruments are exploited to the limit, concluding with a brilliant duet cadenza. Bernhard (Berndt) Henrik Crusell was born on 1. October 1. 77. 5 in Uusikaupunki, Finland, moving close to Helsinki at the age of eight. In 1. 78. 8 he became a volunteer in the military band at the island fortress of Sveaborg, but three years later went to Stockholm in Sweden to study music. From 1. 79. 3 until 1. Crusell played in the Royal Opera Orchestra in Stockholm. This experience proved valuable for his own composing. In order to improve his technique Crusell visited Berlin in 1. Franz Tausch and two years later went to Paris, working with Henri- Montan Berton and Fran. On returning to Stockholm he premiered many concertos in addition to making Swedish translations of libretti to operas by Mozart, Beethoven and Rossini. He died in 1. 83. Solna. Crusell’s career as a clarinet virtuoso would seem to have finished in 1. Sweden that he enjoyed any reputation. Nevertheless, he must have been a considerable performer as can be witnessed by his compositions for the instrument—three concertos (Opp 1, 5 and 1. Opp 2, 4, and 7), three duos (Op 6), a Concertante which includes horn and bassoon (Op 3), and the work in this set, Introduction and Variations on a Swedish air, Op 1. The work in its initial form, when it was called Variation on the song . Unfortunately this version later became lost except for some orchestral sections. The score in its revised format, published by Peters of Leipzig in 1. The work was subsequently published by Costallat in Paris. The version employed in this recording uses the French edition (with piano accompaniment, correcting certain misprints) and the Peters orchestral parts of 1. The original Swedish air is taken from Olof Ahlstr. The work is a splendid virtuoso piece crammed full of technical demands for the soloist. The scoring is for pairs of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns and trumpets, with strings and timpani. Louis Spohr (1. 78. Alruna at the age of twenty- four. His autobiography, published posthumously in 1. English translation), reveals an ability for ruthless self- criticism: My music at the rehearsal in Weimar had not satisfied me, greatly as it had pleased there and I was again tortured with the thought that I had no talent for dramatic music . The Variations remained unpublished until around 1. Spohr’s death. Clarinettists have an uncanny gift of drawing out the best in composers—there was Stadler (who inspired Mozart), Baermann (Weber) and M. Spohr, too, fell under the spell of a fine clarinettist, as he himself admits in a further passage from the autobiography: Herr Hermstedt . He had come to Gotha to request me to write a Clarinet- concerto for him . The introduction, an Adagio in the minor whose solemnity is offset by decorative writing for the solo clarinet, is followed by the theme itself, disarmingly innocent but energized by dotted rhythms. After the first variation which is dominated by chromatic triplet figuration, the orchestral wind instruments come into prominence—all, that is, except the second bassoon which remains obstinately silent, leaving the soloist to take responsibility alternately for the melody and bass line, an echo, perhaps, of the original soprano–bass idea. There follows a freely composed section in the manner of a development, leading finally to a variation in which the clarinet sets to work to swamp the theme with some serious virtuosity. The remaining virtuoso clarinet music in this set, though long neglected, was written by musicians much favoured in their own day. Julius Rietz (1. 81. Starting as Mendelssohn’s assistant at the D. Mendelssohn described his conducting as . He was also a noted cellist but is especially remembered today for his work as a scholar and editor. His own compositions include both vocal and instrumental works. The Clarinet Concerto, Op 2. Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Another feature common to both works is the entry of the soloist after a few introductory bars—a gesture which denies the orchestra the opportunity for its own exposition. Though no one would claim that Rietz is the equal of Mendelssohn his musical language is serious, and generously endowed with melody and harmonic intensity. The slow movement attains a level of serenity which lifts the Concerto well above the merely workmanlike. The infectious rhythms of the last movement lead ultimately to an ebullient coda with orchestra and soloist joining together in a dash to the finishing post and the prize of an ending in the major. The earliest of the composers represented here is .
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2017
Categories |