Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-10-01 14:53
If anybody wants to hear an orchestral work with a bass clarinet part that's truly dynamite, listen to Joseph Suk's "Asrael" Symphony. Suk was a pupil (and son-in-law) of Dvorak, apparently not well known in the U.S., but the works of his I've heard thus far have terrific bass clarinet parts. His music, if you had to describe it in words, seems to be an amalgam of Dvorak (no surprise there), Mahler, and maybe some Vaughan Williams or Benjamin Britten. The bass clarinet has a hugely important part in "Asrael", not only adding color and harmony throughout, but often carrying the melody. There's probably more good bass clarinet in this work alone than in a dozen typical symphonies by just about anyone else. I also recommend any of the English orchestras, as their bass clarinetists uniformly have a marvelous sound. My current recording is by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Libor Pesek (1991), and it is fabulous in every way. Suk's works are not too easy to find in stores, but are available from the larger Internet CD retailers.
David Spiegelthal
Calverton, VA
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The Clarinet BBoard
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