 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2020-05-14 01:22
I was listening to the Overture to the School for Scandal today (and recently to his sublime Violin Concerto) and had a moment of profound disappointment that Samuel Barber never wrote anything for clarinet. I recently had a conversation with someone about the fragments for the clarinet concerto of Benjamin Britten (that was, to one degree or another, finished in the past number of years) with a similar sentiment.
Thus I pose to this board...is there any currently living composer whom you wish would write a concerto for clarinet that presently has not?
I'd contribute Arvo Pärt. His music is emotional, often minimalistic, but still evocative.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-05-14 21:40
Samuel Barber's Summer Music for Woodwind Quintet is a delight; a clarinet concerto along the same lines would have been a blessing. Among dead composers, Alberto Ginastera would be my first choice for a clarinet concerto, based on his fanciful writing for clarinet in Variaciones Concertantes. Another would be American composer Charles Grifffes. His "Poem" for flute is a classic that has no equivalent in the clarinet repertory; something that good in a similar style for clarinet would be unique.
Among the living, I would most like to have a clarinet concerto from the French composer Guillaume Connesson. Given the dance rhythms and easy to remember character of his pieces, a concerto from him just might become a popular hit all over the world.
Post Edited (2020-05-14 21:46)
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Author: fbjacobo
Date: 2020-05-20 00:43
Kind-of depends on what instrumentation you want. If you're looking for a concerto, you'd look to people like John Williams or yes, John Adams. However, if you're looking for a good chamber work, Libby Larsen (sp?) wrote a fabulous piece for cl. vln. and pno. I would personally love to commission a piece for cl., vc. and pno. from her. Another great chamber composer (not to denigrade her orchestral work) is Shulamit Ran. How about John Harbison (I think he's still with us)? Then there's a great Chinese composer named Bright Sheng (sp?) There are so many good composers out there. You do have to beat the bushes a little. I've just touched the itty-bitty tiniest tip of the iceberg.
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Jacobowitz/Larkin Duo
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2020-05-20 03:05
Just to be clear, both John Williams and John Adams have composed clarinet concerti.
I strongly disagree with igalkov's assessment of the Adams.
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2020-05-21 03:41
@ Fred - yes, that's why I asked specifically about a concerto. Williams and Adams both have written concerti as has Bright Sheng (he calls it a Concertino). But I wasn't trying to just wring out random composers. The question was direct - who would YOU want to write a new clarinet concerto? I like your idea of John Harbison, his music is pretty good elsewhere.
@ Seabreeze, interesting about Guillaume Connesson. He wrote his "A Kind of Trane" for saxophone originally but he has it also arranged for clarinet and orchestra. I'll have to take a gander into that. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-05-21 06:35
Thanks, I was vaguely aware of A Kind of Trane as a saxophone concerto (with each movement played by a different sax player!) but I didn't know there was a clarinet version. I see this video on YouTube of Florent Heau playing one of the movements on clarinet https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=A+kind+of+Trane+florent+Heau. (See top hit on page). A few sample pages of A Kind of Trane are shown on the
Stretta Music website: https://www.stretta-music.com.
In his biography of Coltrane--Chasin' the Trane--J. C. Thomas tells the story of John Coltrane first learning music from his scoutmaster, Reverend Steele. Coltrane picked up an Artie Shaw arrangement of "The Blue Orchids" (a Hoagy Carmichael song) and memorized it on clarinet before he began to specialize on the saxophone. What I would give hear a recording of Coltrane playing Artie Shaw on the clarinet!
Post Edited (2020-05-21 08:50)
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Author: gregbaker112@gmail.com
Date: 2020-05-21 19:33
Paul Simon! His career and music are so interesting and wide ranging. 🎶❤️
But I question whether he would let Art Garfunkel play it?? Given what he has said recently about their friendship, I would think not.
😡
GB
Greg Baker
gregbaker112@gmail.com
😀 "Hey! I got nothing to do today but smile."
-Paul Simon
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