 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Axel
Date: 2004-01-02 09:39
Recently I came across the sonata for clarinet and piano by Felix Draeseke (1835-1913). While occupying with this really high quality music I thougt, there must be so much worthwile music for our instrument, which nearly none of us knows.
Tell us your favourite unknown piece (if possible with the publisher of available sheet music). Each music with clarinet, indifferent which further instruments are needed, is welcome. Perhaps you can give us (from the foreword of your sheet music or the booklet of your CD) some information about the composer and the music.
Referíng to Draeseke: He was a German composer. In his early days he was strongly influenced by Liszt an Wagner. Later he turned to classical forms. His clarinet sonata is in late romantic style. He wrote it in 1887, thus predating Brahms, Reger and Saint-Saens. The sonata is published by Wollenweber/Munic.
A detailed report of Draeseke's life and music you'll find under www.draeseke.org . You can there also listen to the 4th. movement of the clarinet sonata, which to my opinion is not even the best of the piece. Notice the piu lento section shortly before the end (5:52 min - 6:32 min). This is a reminiscent of the delicate 1st. movement.
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Author: Katfish
Date: 2004-01-02 14:05
I can recommend two pieces.
It's Either A Song Or A Dance by Ronald Shrovner, Southern Music. Five movements for clarinet alone, about a grade 5 (1-6), modern but very accessible to the audience.
Hillandale Waltzes by Victor Babin, Boosey and Hawkes. Clarinet and Piano, grade 5+, Fun to play and flashy.
John Kahrl
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Author: graham
Date: 2004-01-02 15:34
The Krehl Clarinet Quintet. Post Brahms, and inspired by him. One recording that I know of. Publisher may be Amadeus; I will check.
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Author: Lisa
Date: 2004-01-02 15:41
I've played a couple of pieces by Claire Grundman (yes, he's well-known, and yes, I've probably spelled his name incorrectly) that were written for the clarinet quartet (not transcribed from string quartet, for example).
The one is called Caprice for Clarinets, but I forgot the title of the other as it's out in my car at the moment.
Post Edited (2004-01-02 22:52)
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2004-01-02 19:55
Sutermeister's Capriccio for solo clarinet...
He's Swiss, and wrote the piece in the 1950's. I think Schott still publishes it. That's all I know.
Also, John Mayer's Raga Music for solo clarinet. It's out of print right now, but I have an old photocopy that I mess around with for myself. Really really cool stuff. I think it was written in the 1970's.
Katrina
Post Edited (2004-01-02 19:56)
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Author: RM
Date: 2004-01-02 21:48
Bernard Hermann has a lovely quintet for clarinet and strings. There is a very fine recording with Robert Hill from the 70s, and David Shifrin has one as well.
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Author: Quinn T. Chipley
Date: 2004-01-02 23:01
Although I am not very familiar yet with the clarinet repertoire, I was pleasantly surprised recently to hear William Yeates Hurlstone's (British; 1876 -1906) Four Characteristic Pieces. I believe this work and the composer are listed in the archive section of this website. It is unfortunate that the composer died so young.
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Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2004-01-03 00:41
Ignaz Joseph Pleyel's Concerto for Clarinet in B flat
Paul Meyer recorded this piece with Jean Piere Rampal conducting back in 94.
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2004-01-03 17:11
One firm vote for Carl Fruhling's beautifully lyrical trio for Clt, 'cello and piano.
Hard to get and expensive when found, but worth every last penny.
Brahmsian in essence but less of a handful for the piano, except in one or two virtuoso places. Hope to perform it this year.
I've said it before, but symphonywise - WG Still's Afro-American Symph.
Fabulous for wind especially. Bluesy but definitely symphonic. Played it this year to wonderful audience reaction.
Three Songs by WG Still adapted for clt and piano. "Bayou Home", played on bass clarinet it's luscious.
For anyone interested in the above, I'm happy to give more info by email
BobT
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2004-01-03 17:37
Is Pleyel's really unknown?
(I knew about it before you told me you liked it, although I'd never heard it till then)
Bradley
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-01-03 18:24
bob49t said:
> I've said it before, but symphonywise - WG Still's Afro-American Symph.
> Fabulous for wind especially. Bluesy but definitely symphonic. Played it this year to >wonderful audience reaction.
Nice coincidence, as I also recently did a few performances of William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony (Symphony #1).
I been touting his praises for years and am happy that his works are getting performed more frequently. The principal clarinet part is a fun read, with excellent solos for all the wind players. I especially liked how he blended the different clarinet parts
Definitely an important early American symphonic work. (not an oxymoron) ...GBK
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2004-01-04 06:14
GBK said about WGS Symphony ;
<The principal clarinet part is a fun read, with excellent solos for all the wind players. I especially liked how he blended the different clarinet parts>
True - the bass clarinet being given lots of really exposed atmospheric solos
as well as being the jelly to hold the clarinet 4 clarinet section together. ...RT
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2004-01-04 14:53
I like the clarinet concerto in Bb by Michel Yost. He played in Paris in the 1780's. Dieter Klocker recorded some of Yost's concertos, but not this one. They are nice examples classical clarinet concertos and are impressive considering the instruments they were using at the time.
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2004-01-05 02:13
I second the Sutermeister. It's a lot more fun than most modern music.
A clarinet concerto by Stephen Hartke made the best classical CDs of the year list in the New York Times. Has anyone heard it? I'm not sure if I want to buy the CD because it's played by Richard Stoltzman but I'm still interested.
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Author: Katfish
Date: 2004-01-05 14:37
I like the Suttermeister too, but I'm not sure I would call it unKnown. I believe it was written in 1947 and during the last 20 years it shows up often in student recitals. Next to the Stravinsky Three Pieces and the William O. Smith 5 Pieces for Clarinet Alone, it may be one of the most played unaccompanied pieces. IHO
John Kahrl
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Author: Jerry McD.
Date: 2004-01-05 18:13
On my last recital I played a piece by Rebecca Clarke (British) for clarinet and viola called Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale. It was written in 1942 while Clarke was visiting the U.S. and got stuck here because of the outbreak of WWII. This was written during a time when she was yearning for her homeland and the music really has that feeling. It is quite moody and dark, yet extremely beautiful. It has been performed pretty regularly but it had been unpublished until I believe 2000. It is published by Oxford Press. If you have a friend that is a violist do yourselves a favor and get this music and play it.....you might not like it at first but it really grows on you, probably my favorite piece on my recital.
Very interesting thread...
Jerry McD.
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Author: Meri
Date: 2004-01-06 22:39
My favorite unknown pieces:
George Belden: Star Fall
Srul Irving Glick: Suite Hebraique
Normand Lockwood: Revery and Dance
Phyllis Tate: Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet (especially the first movement)
Carl Nielsen: Fantasistykke
Norman Richardson: Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano
Paul Harvey: Pets (for clarinet alone)
Meri
"There is a difference between being flat and sounding in tune, and being in tune but sounding flat. The first I can live with; the second I cannot."
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Author: vin
Date: 2004-01-07 23:21
Ingolf Dahl's Concerto a Tre- a trio for clarinet, cello and violin. I performed this this past summer with someone who knew Ingolf Dahl very well and perhaps it was that personal connection, but I really identified with it- an amazing, exciting, beautiful piece all the way through.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-01-08 03:16
A few years back I performed the Delius North Country Sketches and was totally amazed...a great shame this is not heard more often!!
The Osbourne Rhapsody in spite of being typical University fare in recital does not get performed too often by professional...its quite a bit harder than some would care to admit I think>>>>
David Dow
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Author: Dawne
Date: 2004-01-09 06:58
crazy otto!!!!!......not a clarinetist, but if he was, I bet he would be CRAZY!
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Author: studioline
Date: 2004-01-09 23:15
bob49t, do you know the publisher of the 3 songs adapted for cl and piano by William Grant Still?
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Author: Clarannette
Date: 2013-08-12 16:35
Do you know where I can buy a copy of the Tate 3 pieces? I have been searching the web and it would seem to be out of print.
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Author: Clarannette
Date: 2013-08-12 16:37
Do you know where I could buy a copy of the Tate 3 Pieces? I have searched the web and it would seem to be out of print.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2013-08-12 18:58
The Olga Petrova concerto. Picked it up from the publishing house in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mention of the piece is pretty sparse... I may or may not have performed the US premiere of it in 2010,
Damn cool piece. Third movement is a bit of semi-minimalist jazz-through-a-blender.
Orchestration calls for fully doubled strings and two percussionists, iirc, rental parts cost me about $200.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-08-12 22:51
Great music of any kind is great on clarinet. Get with a good pianist and play the Brahms Violin and Cello Sonatas. Yes, you'll have to transpose, but it's much more than worth the effort.
Keep your good pianist and play Schumann's Dichterliebe, which is a string of perfect pearls, beginning with the first song, "Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai." Study the German and English translation and play the meaning as well as the notes. My favorite recording is Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten. Experienced accompanists will be able to play the piano part a step lower as a matter of course. Ask an organist, who transposes all the time.
Then go to Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin, and the entire Schubert output.
Then go to the Stephen Foster Songbook http://www.ezfolk.com/library/songbooks/foster/stephen-foster-1/contents/contents.html Listen to Jan DeGaetani and try "If You've Only Got a Moustache."
All of these are available free on IMSLP, which is down at the moment. Lots of them are in sharp keys, which you'll need to transpose on the A clarinet. Read in bass clef.
All of this is MUCH better than unknown clarinet music. It's by the world's great composers, and you're not a complete musician if you don't know it.
Ken Shaw
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-08-13 09:19
I've played a lot of lieder on the clarinet for my personal pleasure, but wouldn't perform these pieces in public as I feel that the words of the poems that are set to music are an indispensable part of this art form. One way of getting round this problem is to play songs that were composed for wordless voice; Prokofiev's 5 Songs for example. There is a violin-piano version of this that the composer himself did up, but I go back to the original for voice. They work wonderfully on the clarinet. An enthusiastic student of mine came up with a whole list of art songs like this that are well suited to the clarinet. I will ask him for it. I agree that it is more satisfying to play a transcription of a first-rate work rather than a third-rate original.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2013-08-14 00:25
Aharon Harlap - Concerto for Clarinet. I believe a recording is available on YouTube. Really cool and fun piece to play. Published by the Israel Music Institute.
Also a Clarinet Concerto by Mohammed Fairouz. A splendid mix of western and eastern musical techniques and tonalities. Unpublished.
Julian Wachner's Concerto is also a real treat to play (published by EC Schirmer) and Sebastian Fagerlund's Concerto is, while extremely difficult, played very virtuostically in the Naxos recording by Christopher Sundqvist and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (published by FIMIC).
(edited to add publisher info)
Post Edited (2013-08-14 00:28)
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2013-08-14 01:54
Also unknown is Wolfgang von Schweinitz' Plainsound Sinfonie. A microtonal concerto for basset clarinet and orchestra.
In my humble opinion, the most incredible piece of music ever written. It blew my mind, and continues to do so with every listen (Schweinitz was a professor of mine, gave me the recording). Microtones used to create new, unknown, incredibly dense consonances, playing with your ear as it does things like modulate by a septimal comma. Debussy and Gorecki tossed into a blender.
The score is a serious mindf**k, with special fingerings all over the wind parts to achieve various flavors of thirds, sevenths, elevenths. The net result, unlike a lot of microtonal pieces, is absolutely worth all the trouble.
First time I heard it, I sat with a stupid grin on my face for the entire duration. The piece answers the question, "what if you could modulate between just-intoned intervals instead of equal-tempered ones." It's chock full of "Oh no you DIDN'T!!!" moments to the trained ear.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: hinotehud ★2017
Date: 2013-08-14 02:23
I really like the music of Rick Sowash, a living composer in Cincinnati. His trios for clarinet, cello and piano a beautiful, especially the first three and "The View from Carew". Elsa Verdehr and Michele Gingras have recorded his music, so he is not unknown, but certainly not well known.
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Author: DaveF
Date: 2013-08-15 04:09
William Thomas McKinley Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, I believe written for Richard Stoltzman, and recorded by him. Unpublished, but years ago I was able to contact Mr. McKinley and purchased score and clar part. 3rd movement adagio is very special.
Dave F.
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Author: asb
Date: 2013-08-19 18:55
Two weeks ago at Apple Hill I played the Trio in g, Op 45, for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano by Robert Kahn. We loved it. It's available from
http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/.
Kahn was a friend of Brahms, who was so impressed with him that he offered to take him as a student. The trio was written for and performed by Muhlfeld.
There appear to be two recordings of the trio; one by the Trio-B3-classic, the other by the Trio Bornalie.
I've only heard the Trio Bornalie recording, which captures the drama of the outer movements and the lyrical beauty of the slow movement in spite of the fact that the piano is generally too loud.
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Author: sonicbang
Date: 2013-08-20 11:16
Although I know the composer is a famous and great one, I think the Honegger's Rhapsody for 2 flutes, clarinet in A and piano is played quite rarely but is an excellent piece.
But I'm sure most of the great clarinet works from hungarian composers from the previous decades are mostly unknown. They are excellent works as well.
Kókai: Four hungarian dances
Hajdu: Capriccio all ongarese
Sári J. : Stati quattro tempi per clarinetto solo
Láng: Monodia
Károlyi: Meditations
Hidas: Fantasia
Just to name a few.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2013-08-20 20:47
Music for the Krehl Quintet is available for free on IMSLP. (So is the Draeseke Sonata.)
Rosewood Publications has reprinted the Fruhling Trio. It is available from SheetMusicPlus for $32.50 or directly from the publisher for about £11 (about US$ 20). As I recall, a few years ago, I ordered several of Rosewood's publications (they have an interesting catalog of lesser-known works) and was pleasantly surprised when they instructed me to pay a direct distributor in the U.S. Since the music came from the U.S., the shipping charges were quite reasonable so I suspect buying direct is less expensive than going through SheetMusicPlus.
Mayer's Raga Music (published by Lengnick) appears to be available through ABRSM.
I will add Kaljo Raid's Suite in Olden Style for clarinet and string quartet or string orchestra (Canadian Music Centre) and Aubert Lemeland's Cinq Pieces (and Cinq Nouvelle Pieces - Billaudot) to the list. Also, Gordon Jacob's Mini Concerto (Boosey & Hawkes), the Castelnuovo-Tedesco Sonata (Ricordi) and just about anything written by Nino Rota for the clarinet (including, but not limited to, Sonata, Ricordi; Trio, Schott and (just published) Lo Spiritismo...; Schott).
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2013-08-20 23:46)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2013-08-25 13:56
Esquisses Hebraiques by Alexander Krein. I remain indebted to GBK for introducing me to this music via item 20 on Artie Shaw's Legacy package. To my knowledge the Shaw rendition of a section of the Krein is not contained elsewhere. Every year when I contemplate donating to the Drive for funds all I have to do is listen to Krein and that always breaks down my resistance....thanks to GBK.
Bob Draznik
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-08-25 19:44
What a great topic! I've learned so much from it. I vote for "The Mirror" by Yehudi Wyner, the American composer. I think it's incidental music to a play, so it wouldn't be necessary to play all the movements. There exists a fine recording with Richard Stoltzman of it (Milken Archive of American Jewish Music/Naxos). Does anybody know whether the shhet music is available?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Wes
Date: 2013-08-26 04:12
The sextet for piano and wind quintet by Ludwig Thuille is great. I performed it in a group at the Hermosa Auditorium about 20 years ago.
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Author: jez
Date: 2013-08-26 06:31
Leighton Lucas Clarinet Concerto is a splendid piece. I have a recording with Sidney Fell playing, but believe it has been recorded more recently by Ian Scott
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2013-08-26 07:13
I imagine the repertoire I've recorded on my disc "English Fantasy" will be unknown to many of you. Check it out in Cala Records. (They distribute in the US)
Peter Cigleris
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2014-11-24 00:34
What a great thread! I found it looking to see if anyone else was as impressed with the Draeseke Sonata as I was upon finding it for the first time this morning.
Here's a very nice recording with the score on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGAdVUcrxrg&index=2&list=PL9xFfsgreebapnuNM88gd5N9HVmnK5G6c
(beginning of rant)
I have to take issue with the assumption that lesser known works are third rate. When composers such as Bach, Schubert, and Mahler have all been seriously neglected at various points in history, including in their own lifetimes or immediately after their deaths, this is not an attitude that passes muster with me. We are in this wonderful period when the *unfairly* neglected repertoire can be so easily shared and found through the internet. What a great time to be a musician!
Transcriptions can be very rewarding, but not always. Some great pieces lose the essence of their greatness when not played on the instrument that the composer crafted them for. A couple of examples: Mozart's Clarinet Concerto played on the flute (I've only suffered the Adagio, perhaps the outer movements work better but one movement was more than enough for me), and Prokofiev's Flute Sonata played on the clarinet (I've heard it done by a very great clarinet virtuoso - it did not work at all musically for me).
(end of rant)
Anders
Post Edited (2014-11-24 01:22)
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2014-11-24 01:19
>> Here's a very nice recording [of the Draeseke sonata] with the score on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGAdVUcrxrg&index=2&list=PL9xFfsgreebapnuNM88gd5N9HVmnK5G6c
>>
The deal-breaking trouble with this recording, according to me, is the undue prominence of the clarinet part compared to the piano part.
That's not necessarily the clarinet player's fault. The pianist needs to understand the equality of their rôle with that of the clarinet -- as does the recording engineer of course. But the piano is undercharacterised by the player, I'd say.
However, apart from that, I agree it's lovely.
Tony
Post Edited (2014-11-24 01:20)
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2014-11-24 02:08
I wrote:
>> ...the undue prominence of the clarinet part compared to the piano part. >>
Sorry, for a moment I forgot where I was writing this.
Of course, almost nobody here would notice such a thing.
Tony
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2014-11-24 03:13
Tony - Funny and apt comments. 
Are you the Anthony Pay who was several times featured as a clarinet soloist during David Atherton's tenure as Music Director with the San Diego Symphony in the 1980's? If so, I would like to express my appreciation for those performances. I was a middle and high school student during those years, and found your appearances to be very inspirational in my pursuit of a career with the clarinet.
Anders
Post Edited (2014-11-24 05:02)
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2014-11-24 05:07
>> Are you the Anthony Pay who was several times featured as a clarinet soloist during David Atherton's tenure as Music Director with the San Diego Symphony in the 1980's? >>
That would have been me (without the 'h':-)
I'm glad you liked it; I loved being there, myself.
Tony
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2014-11-24 06:27
Well, I listened to it again, more carefully.
What I'd say is that the pianist ignores the barlines far too much. The music is more rhythmically based than he/she thinks, and so suppressing the bass causes much damage.
It means that all the gestures 'against' the barline have less effect, for example, in both piano and clarinet. And the pulse in the trio goes for nothing.
Tony
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Author: Pastor Rob
Date: 2014-11-24 07:56
Six Lyric Pieces for clarinet and piano by Carson Cooman published by Keiser. I understand he also wrote a concerto. I'd like to hear it because I like these Lyric Pieces very much.
Pastor Rob Oetman
Leblanc LL (today)
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2014-11-24 17:40
Following on from Tony's observations re the Draeseke on Youtube, I'll add that the pianist understates most of the scored dynamic contrasts. It's as though one of their goals was to not call any attention to the piano part. Yet interplay between the two parts is clearly called for throughout the score.
This effect is common. I've heard a lot of recordings where a pianist steps back from being a collaborator to being an "accompanist", playing their part like it were intended as background music off in a store somewhere. Irks me quite a bit, especially listening to pieces new to me, as it makes it difficult to understand the music or evaluate it. It tends to make the music sound boring.
Well, maybe the tendency irks even more in familiar works like the Brahms clarinet sonatas, which demand a great deal from the pianist, else the music is lost. I'd almost prefer to hear a pianist that's *too* prominent in collaboration to one that's too self-effacing.
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2014-11-25 03:23
A less-well-known piece that deserves more exposure is the Gouvy Sonata Op. 67. Around 15 years ago I recorded this as part of a French disc with Martin Roscoe, but that never came out. Still, I have a first edit of the Gouvy, and have put it up on SoundCloud.
There were problems with the venue -- cold temperature, resonant acoustic necessitating too close microphone placement, etc. -- but I think it's worth a listen:
https://soundcloud.com/tony-pay/sets/gouvy
I suppose the piano/clarinet relationship is a tiny bit compromised in the same way as the other piece we were discussing...
Tony
Post Edited (2014-11-25 06:17)
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2018-11-16 13:51
Tony Pay wrote:
> A less-well-known piece that deserves more exposure is the
> Gouvy Sonata Op. 67. Around 15 years ago I recorded this as
> part of a French disc with Martin Roscoe, but that never came
> out. Still, I have a first edit of the Gouvy, and have put it
> up on SoundCloud.
> https://soundcloud.com/tony-pay/sets/gouvy
>
Thank you for a very pleasant listen, Tony. I particularly enjoyed your phrasing, as well as the shape of your staccato 8th notes in the Rondo. This piece is on IMSLP and so readily available to study and play. I'm likely to give this a go soon with my pianist.
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The Clarinet Pages
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