The clarinet

[visualnickmos]

The clarinet is one of the most wonderful of all instruments. Its range for one thing, and the sheer abundance of different sounds it can produce. But what about favourite clarinettists? I for one, enjoy the playing of the late great Jack Brymer, to name but one.....

Then what about favourite works for clarinet? Mozart, of course, but many great works have been written for it, and thankfully, still are....

[jayne lee wilson]

A favourite disc is the Martin Frost BIS release with the Aho/Nielsen Concertos... (his Weber is great fun too)...

Always happy to give Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto a spin..., and for an out-and-out masterpiece, there's Elliott Carter (Collins/Knussen/DG 20/21)...
Schoenberg's playfully sonorous Septet-Suite OP.29 has 3 Clarinets/String trio/piano, bit of a pet favourite...
Boulez' Dialogue de l'Ombre Double works very well as a nightcap...

I think Holmboe has at least one among the Chamber Concerti somewhere, if I had time to seek it out I'd probably love it! But that's the trouble with a thread like this... the "if only I had time to play them all" factor...

Just noticed the one by Anders Hillborg on Ondine on the shelf! (Frost/Salonen/SRSO)...Called "Peacock Tales"! Haven't played it for ages but recall being quite excited with it back in the day...

[amateur51]

Interesting 10-CD boxed set of clarinet repertoire mainstream and otherwise in the bargain basement played by an American master, Richard Stoltzman. The late Brahms clarinet sonatas with Richard Goode are very much to my taste.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Stoltzman-Clarinet-Concertos-Sonatas/dp/B008CG1HRE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1385406986&sr=1-1&keywords=richard+stoltzman

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This may come as something of a surprise to my HIPP enthusiast friends, but I have quite a strong aversion to clarinet vibrato. Few British players apply this technique, but exceptions include Jack Brymer and Emma Johnson. Perhaps the natural warmth and richness of the clarinet is sufficient?

[pastoralguy]

The Copland concerto is a wonderful piece, IMHO.

[Sir Velo]

Weber's quintet of works for solo clarinet: the two concertos; the concertino; Grand Duo Concertant and the quintet are sparkling works. Emma Johnson on an ASV CD is appropriately effervescent.

For spicier fare, try the Benny Goodman inspired Bartok Contrasts.

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes, one of my favourite instruments - to its intrinsic charm is added in my case a significance due to its having been the instrument of a great friend, who died in tragic circumstances. We played many pieces together - fumbling through the late Brahms sonatas, making a decent fist of the Finzi Bagatelles... Those are special favourites, along with the Finzi concerto and the Mozart and Brahms chamber pieces. Oh! and the Mozart 'Kegelstadt' trio, at which we also had many a go thanks to my late mate's girlfriend being an excellent viola player

Special mention too for the solo in the slow movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd Symphony

[LeMartinPecheur]

There are decent British clarinet 5tets, such as the Bliss which I got to know fist off some junk-shop 78s by Frederick Thuston and the Griller 4tet, a classic version which I think you'll find on CD. If not, David Campbell and the Magginis have done it well on Naxos.

There are some good British concertos too: Finzi, Stanford and Arnold come to mind. Emma Johnson has done a whole ASV CD of Arnold works featuring the clt, inc two concertos (CD DCA 922). A dig for Thea King on Hyperion/ Helios will pick up plenty of the obscurer repertoire, certainly British and maybe 'other', I fancy.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Just noticed the one by Anders Hillborg on Ondine on the shelf! (Frost/Salonen/SRSO)...Called "Peacock Tales"! Haven't played it for ages but recall being quite excited with it back in the day...

I recall Martin Fröst performing Peacock Tales at the Proms - it involved a good deal of choreography and a mask! A real showman's piece.

Fröst is a favourite performer on the clarinet, as is Michael Collins, who has a terrific tone. I find Emma Johnson's vibrato an obstacle to fully appreciating her performances, I'm afraid.

I learnt the clarinet from two teachers, one who'd studied with Frederick Thurston and the other with his wife, Thea King. As a result, I always felt a very special link to Finzi - those Five Bagatelles are deceptively tricky to get right (and not just that furious fugue of a finale!).

So much lovely clarinet repertoire out there - Mozart, of course, but Weber, Krommer and, especially, late Brahms. French repertoire is most rewarding - Poulenc and the underrated Saint-Saëns' Sonata.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Special mention too for the solo in the slow movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd Symphony

Yes indeed, but also the opening solo to Sibelius' 1st Symphony.

[EdgeleyRob]

Mozart and Brahms clarinet music always hits the spot.
Recent discoveries for me are the Weinberg concerto and sonata.
So much lovely British music for the instrument which I couldn't live without,Ireland ,Howells,Bliss,Finzi,Arnold,Bax etc.
A special mention for the Stanford concerto and sonata,almost criminal that these works are so neglected in the concert hall.
Check out this slow movement.

[aeolium]

I also love its use as an obbligato instrument, as in Mozart's aria from La Clemenza di Tito, Parto, parto, and also The Shepherd on the Rock. Rossini's Introduction and Variations is another enjoyable work.

For modern performers I also like Fröst and Collins, as well as Julian Bliss and Sabine Meyer. Thea King was one of my favourites. Antony Pay's recordings of the Weber concertos with the OAE are wonderful. The introduction of modern performances on the basset clarinet enriched our understanding of the Mozart works.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Alan Hacker. Carl Rosman. Armand Angster. Suzanne Stephens. Artie Shaw. Benny Goodman.

Such a wonderfully flexible instrument, and so many great performers.

[hedgehog]

Alan Hacker. Carl Rosman. Armand Angster. Suzanne Stephens. Artie Shaw. Benny Goodman.

Such a wonderfully flexible instrument, and so many great performers.

And on to the bass clarinet ...... Eric Dolphy, Harry Sparnaay, Suzanne Stephans, Carl Rosman, Fie Schouten, Laura Carmichael, .......


Are the pieces by Stravinsky the first pieces for solo (unaccompanied) clarinet?

Abîme des oiseaux from Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps remains a glorious work for solo clarinet. Wicked use of the middle 'break' register for desolation and those long and large crescendos without deviating from the pitch Heaps of other solo repertoire of course - Berio's Sequenza iX and Lachenmann's dal niente are timeless classics as well. Surely?

[Black Swan]

The clarinet is my instrument or at least for 1/3 of my life. Being raised in the states Robert Marcellus who was one of the greats was my hero. For my his recording of the Mozart Concerto with Szell is a classic. Sabine Meyer, Michael Collins. As for concerto's Crussell, Weber, Copland, Takemitzu - Cantos, Saariaho - D'OM Le VRAI SENS, Rautavaara Concerto. Of course the Brahms and Mozart Chamber Music. There is so much there to admire.