 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Genevieve
Date: 2015-08-02 10:37
I'm back everyone!
In about a year and a half I'll be officially giving my junior clarinet recital for my performance degree. My teacher and I won't be sitting down to discuss it until the spring semester at the earliest, but I'm exploring ideas on my own so I have a range of improvement to shoot for. The requirements are pretty standard: a Classical Era piece, a Romantic Period piece, a Contemporary piece and an unaccompanied piece of any genre. Of those one has to be a chamber work. So far I have these picked out as possible ideas:
Classical/chamber: Mozart Kegelstatt Trio
Contemporary/chamber: Milhaud Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano
Contemporary:
Poulenc Sonata
Milhaud Duo Concertant
Penderecki Three Miniatures
Malcolm Arnold Sonatina
Rosenblatt Carmen Fantasy
Messager Solo des Concours
Bozza Bucolique
Romantic Era:
Brahms 1 or 2
Schumann Fantasy Pieces
Rossini Introduction Theme and Variations
Unaccompanied:
Stravinsky Three Pieces
Any of the Hommages by Kovacs
Looking to be adventurous so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Suggestions encouraged.
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2015-08-02 20:16
I thought of some additional possibilities:
Classical: Vanhal Sonata in B-flat
Romantic: One of the Mendelssohn Concert Pieces for clarinet, basset horn, and piano
Contemporary: Martinu Clarinet Sonatina or Copland Clarinet Sonata (the composer's authorized transcription of the violin sonata)
Unaccompanied: Sutermeister Capriccio, Gordon Jacob Five Pieces, or John Mayer Raga Music. I'm not sure how often this last one is performed, but it's a very interesting piece, definitely worth a serious look. There was a recent discussion on this board about John McCaw, and I heard him give a great performance of it many years ago.
Post Edited (2015-08-02 20:19)
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Author: Genevieve
Date: 2015-08-03 00:22
Thanks! In your opinion would it be too much to have this as a line up in recital order:
Mozart Kegelstatt Trio
Stravinsky Three Pieces
Graham Lyons Sonata
Intermission
Brahms Second Sonata
I've thought about swapping Brahms for Schumann and finishing with the Graham Lyons OR Poulenc as well.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-08-03 02:26
I'm finding as I age that I'm becoming fascinated by what musicians consider "modern" repertoire. I don't mean to find fault with the OP's list of "Contemporary" recital pieces. They are all wonderful pieces of music for clarinet. But I played most of them myself in the 1960s and early '70s as an undergrad and then a grad clarinet student. The newest piece in the list is the Poulenc (1962), several are from the '50s and the Messager (and the Carmen Fantasy) are 19th century works. So the newest is nearly 50 years old. Of the other possibilities in clarinetguy's post and Genevieve's proposed program, the most recent piece is the Jacob 5 Pieces (1972).
Again, the suggested pieces are all good repertoire choices - until, at last for me, you attach a descriptor of contemporary or modern or adventurous to them. I haven't played solo recitals in years and am out of touch with the most recent trends and compositions, but I wonder what experienced soloists or students playing university solo recitals are playing that is truly contemporary - say less than 25 years old?
Karl
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2015-08-03 02:35
I heartily agree with Karl.
Isn't there a student composer at school that would write you a piece? A world premiere is always exciting.
I did several at my junior recital and not only did I get a capacity crowd, but several of NYC's best known composers came to check out the new works.
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Author: brycon
Date: 2015-08-03 04:13
Quote:
Again, the suggested pieces are all good repertoire choices - until, at last for me, you attach a descriptor of contemporary or modern or adventurous to them. I haven't played solo recitals in years and am out of touch with the most recent trends and compositions, but I wonder what experienced soloists or students playing university solo recitals are playing that is truly contemporary - say less than 25 years old?
The Boulez and Carter works are now standard "contemporary" repertoire (they're no longer new, though). From the same era, Milton Babbitt has an absolutely beautiful solo clarinet piece as well as a piece for two clarinets and soprano. Mantovani's Bug gets played fairly often in recitals, as does Widmann's incredibly cheeseball Fantasie. The Donatoni and Denisov solo works are now quite standard (though like the mid-century modernists, they're not really new).
Sciarrino, Grisey, and Marc Andre all have some nice solo clarinet pieces. Lindberg, Ades, and Golijov have some "safer" chamber pieces (Golijov's works are especially safe). Really, almost every living composer has a piece for clarinet; a student could just go through the websites of publishers and universities and easily find something.
Most students, unfortunately, shirk the contemporary music requirement and play something like Poulenc, the aesthetic of which is far less modern than, say, Berg's pieces, which were composed a half century earlier. Or they play one of those Kovacs homages, which are imitations of previous (and far more interesting) composers.
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Author: clarinetplayer21
Date: 2015-08-03 04:46
for a "new" clarinet piece that is Unaccompanied scott mcallisters "four preludes on play things of the wind" in a nice very different sounding piece of music.
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2015-08-03 04:51
Good points about the age of some of that music. Working with a student composer is an interesting idea if your teacher will go along.
I must admit that I'm also a little out of the loop with some of the latest works in the repertoire, but I did think of four interesting ones that have been written since the early 1980s--Robert Muczynski's Time Pieces (1984), Joseph Horovitz's Sonatina (1981), Paul Reade's Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite (1991), and Charles Camilleri's Shomyo (2001).
My sincere thanks to those who have previously mentioned the Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite. I was unfamiliar with it, but purchased a copy and played through it. Very enjoyable music, and an interesting choice for a recital. Your audience will like it, but your teacher might consider it to be too "lightweight."
The Horovitz Sonatina has some great moments and will also be an audience favorite (especially the jazzy last movement), but again, your teacher might not think much of it.
Time Pieces have become a standard in the unaccompanied repertoire. Shomyo (unaccompanied) is fairly unknown, and I don't know if the music is easy to find, but it's a very interesting piece, definitely worth a look. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXUs3CQBb4g
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2015-08-03 08:52
The Time Pieces seem to be one of the more popular post-1980 clarinet compositions, but you're right Katrina--and thank you for catching my mistake.
Muczynski did write some music for other unaccompanied instruments, but I'm not sure if he wrote anything for unaccompanied clarinet.
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Author: Genevieve
Date: 2015-08-05 07:25
How about this layout:
Messager Solo des Concours
Stravinsky Three Pieces
Devienne Sonata 2
Intermission
Brahms Trio in A minor
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Author: ABerry
Date: 2015-08-06 07:33
Genevieve,
Lots of excellent choices listed here.
My Sr. recital way back in 1978:
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto K 622
Malcolm Arnold: Divertimento for Clarinet, Flute and Oboe Op. 37
Brahms: Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 120
My Jr. recital:
Mozart: Kegelstatt Trio K 498
Beethoven: Trio Op11 for Clarinet, Cello and Piano
Brahms: Sonata No. 2 in Eb major Op. 120
Spohr: 6 Songs with Piano and Voice Op. 103
Allan
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